The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings

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In The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings, twelve leading scholars draw on the latest research and archaeological evidence to provide the clearest picture yet of this fabled people. Painting a fascinating portrait of the influences that the "Northmen" had on foreign lands, the contributors trace Viking excursions to the British Islands, Russia, Iceland, Greenland, and the northern tip of Newfoundland. We meet the great Viking kings, looks at the day-to-day social life of the Vikings, and learn about their almost religious reverence for boats and boat-building. But perhaps most important, the book goes a long way towards answering the age-old question of who these people were. The contributors show that the Vikings did indeed control the Northern Seas with the viciousness of pirates and that they pillaged Christian towns with relentless ferocity. And yet we also discover that they were shrewd traders whose dealings in fur in Russia and walrus tusks in Iceland were the envy of Europe. Attractively illustrated with twenty-four color plates, sixteen maps, and over a hundred black-and-white pictures, The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings is a magnificent account of this rugged maritime culture.