John HaywoodNorthmen: The Viking Saga, AD 793-1241

It’s an interesting tale but too much facts about who were the rulers.

John Haywood’s book tells the story of Scandinavia, from the Greeks first contact with them in 300 BC, to the mid 13th century. It gives great detail on their religion, their warrior and sea faring culture, their ancient and mysterious religion, and the eventual expansion from their homeland to raid, trade and settle elsewhere. It gives several chapters on their impact on The British isles, from the first raid on Lindisfarne, to the last Norse-Gael kingdoms. It covers their raids into Germany and France, and the founding of Normandy. Their expectations to the east, to the lakes of Finland, the forests of Russia, the vast Eurasian steppe, and Constantinople. It also covers their settlement of Iceland, Greenland, and their failed colonies in North America. I can not recommend this book enough, not just for people interested in the Vikings, but anyone even remotely interested in history.

There is only one difficulty in reading this book.THE names ,best keep a note pad on the side to keep the names in order and different men have the same name ,father/son/grandson.Mr Haywood has rendered a very interesting story of the Viking.and their contributions to Europe.They were not as portrayed in movies or in myths.They could and were hostile people ,but then the region they came from was hostile.The Vikings were no more hostile than the people of the countries they raided.The amazing part was their conversion to Christianity and the affects that it had not only on them but on the countries they governed. It as like reading Constantine and his conversion .The vikings were not here long but its their influence in European history that still remains. .

Easy read and easy to follow the story. The names & locations become challenging but made it through! I learned a great deal about the "Vikings." The author is excellent. I also got his other book on the Anglo-Saxons & believe it to be even better!

This is the first book about Vikings I’ve read, and it was perfect! Only downside is the names are tough to keep up with as many of them shared the same name, but that’s obviously nothing against the author. The 300+ pages summed up Viking history in a way that felt like a story was being told instead of information being thrown at you. He’s able to give you the needed info without the fluff while still diving into certain battles and people. Bravo. This was an amazing read

This book covers the rise of the Vikings as a group while respecting the individual tribes/clans that made up the group. It’s organized by region which makes it hard to follow at times but overall I found it coherent. It’s a good starting point for further studies.

I really enjoyed this book. Haywood examines Norse history from its beginnings in legends and sagas and moves forward through time until the end of the Viking Age. I liked how Haywood broke up the history of the Northmen by geography: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Frisia, Frankia, Normandy, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Isle of Man, Orkney, Hebrides, Iceland, Greenland, etc. This book helped me paint a complete picture in my mind of the many facets of Norse culture and history. Too many books focus exclusively on raids and sea kings, but this book tells the ironic historical tale of the cultural and religious assimilation of the conquering Norse into the civilizations and peoples that they were conquering.

Very good book. Very detailed....it is enjoyable to see that the series "Vikings" is based on the anglo-saxon chronicles which are detailed in this book, As I read the names and details of what is quoted in this book, it is almost 100% what you have seen in the series on TV. I look forward to reading not only where the series is probably headed but that this "real history" of the Vikings shows how savage and brutal the World was to this point in history !

one of the most interesting and detailed accounts of viking timelines.. for viking life his other book tops but for the historical and mythological description this is up there with th best.. best prices are found online

Enjoyable and informative book.

Very happy

As an Englishman, I had some notion of the importance of the Vikings to our own history but knew little of it. This book provides that knowledge and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to understand the impact the Vikings had across Europe and actually, a little beyond.

This is a well researched and presented book. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone researching or has an interest in this period of history.