Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793–1241

In this ambitious, sprawling study, Haywood (Viking: The Norse Warrior’s [Unofficial] Manual), who has written extensively on medieval Europe, manages to construct a definitive, if not always accessible, history of Viking civilization. He reaches into the dim past to study their creation myths and lore before embarking on a historical journey that covers nearly five centuries and spans several continents. The result is a dense, information-heavy work that digs deep into what made Viking culture tick. “The Vikings were an unprecedented phenomenon in European history, not for any technological, military or cultural innovation that they contributed to... but for the vast expanse of their horizons,” Haywood writes by way of introduction. And so he carefully and thoroughly examines their spread through Europe, into Asia, and across the seas to see how they affected the world, and how they evolved from a pagan culture into a Christian one—a development that spelled the end of the Vikings and the birth of a slightly more sedate Scandinavia. As a work of sociopolitical history, this is a solid, slow-paced affair jammed full of names, places, and dates. Its value is thus as an academic resource, a historian or researcher’s best friend, and it will be less useful for the casual reader looking for some easy answers. Maps & photo insert. (Sept.)