The Vikings: Lords of the Seas

by Yves Cohat

In an historical saga that spans centuries, the author reveals how the Vikings used their superior navigational and boat-building skills to rule the seas and terrorize the European continent. Original.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Reference

176 pages, Paperback

First published April 22, 1987

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short but sweet and with good pictures

[Kathy Leland · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tidy little book with lots of great color photos and interesting general information-- and you'll feel quite thankful that those enterprising and restless Vikings no longer roam the world (other than on T.V., of course.)

Bloody, brutal and incredibly violent; hard-living, hard-drinking, avaricious and mercenary, smart, practical, excellent mariners; these guys never let any higher spiritual or religious sentiment interfere with rousing grand funeral parties, a big slew of human slave sacrifices, or the sad loss of some damned fine horses (also sacrificed). It's rarely been true in most other cases, but in this particular one, maybe the Vikings' conversion to Christianity wasn't such a bad thing overall. I'm sure it worked out better for the slaves, virtually all of the women, AND the horses, at any rate.

[Elfo-oscuro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para el tiempo quetiene esta bastante bien, es como una breve historia, como vivian, como hacian los barcos o incluso datos simples de su mitologia. Uizas lo que menos provecho saqué es de sus breves referencias a sus sagas

[Libri_scritti_a_matita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ho trovato in biblioteca questo libricino, a mio parere, ben fatto.
Sembra un riassunto dei libri di storia scolastici. In poche pagine passa in rassegna tutte le conquiste dei vichinghi, la mitologia e in fondo si trovano degli estratti dell' Edda (testi poetici e in prosa). Il tutto completato da molte immagini di cui le didascalie sono parecchio dettagliate.
Consiglio questa lettura a chi, come me, si affaccia per la prima volta alla storia norrena e vuole avere una panoramica ampia e completa.

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this style of history book - short & to-the-point, with many pictures of artifacts, design plans, and excerpts from related documents, with notes at the end pointing to more useful resources for further reading. Read this for fun & wish I had more books like this!

[Alexis(Andra) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 beautifully illustrated . Text is hard to follow at times . Learned a few things, especially about founding of Iceland by Danish Vikings and the life of the Vikings . Didn’t realize the extent of Viking travels.

[Alexandra Esmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

A masterful interweaving of legend and fact, art and craftsmanship, Cohat’s book is unputdownable. Suitable for all ages and provides a further reading list at the end.

Saying that, there are a few clunky sentences, but this could be attributed to it being a translation.

[Darth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good - great pics - but largely stuff you already know if you have read any significant amount on the the Vikings. Still worth the time, for the pics alone.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice overview of the Vikings — read it for a cruise that includes the fiords of Norway and the outer islands of Scotlands.

[Diane Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small book with a lot of information. Perfect reading as historical background when planning a trip to former Viking colonies and countries.

[Sophie Drt-Pmllr · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 / 5. A compact overview of the Vikings' empire and the historical context in which it emerged. Intriguing documents, including contemporary sources, at the end. Makes for an easy and interesting read.

[Matthew White · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ships. Seas. Iron. Trade. Rape. Vikings. We all love them. We all admire them. We all wish we could live in the time of the Vikings, whether on the giving or receiving side of the slaughter. Lovely times had by all, and lovely documentation is to be found in this small, glossy piece of historical non-fiction. An eddying and stuttering use of differing sources and pictures of tapestries and paintings and photos, and blocks of text like blocks of information swaying and colliding from the heavens above. We all respect the collaborators of this magnificent piece of museum gift shop literature, which even contains some documentation at the reverse for extra unadulterated wisdom for the Viking Historian, just simply wonderful, and wonderful is the standard that is set to be achieved but it was not quite met until those that had the information in this type of book set forth to make interesting escapist fiction, but this is a good, a jolly old nice place to begin a quest of your own, the fine feathered friends of the eagles smile upon you as you read.

[Brian Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Vikings: Lords of the Seas by Yves Cohat is a small book loaded with large amounts of information. Its pages are filled with the voyages, the ships, the arms and armor, the dwellings and the culture that inhabited Northern Europe and became the scourge of the rest of the continent. Even though the book is practically pocket sized it contains beautiful artwork chronicling the history of these noble warriors. Being of Norwegian and Danish heritage, it helped me to discover the story of my ancestors. After reading this book I was amazed at the influence that Scandinavian culture had on many other lands and how they helped to shape many of our traditions today. I would recommend this book to anyone who wanted to get a worthwhile look into the world of the Vikings.

[Heather's Mum · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter bought this edition of Lord of the Seas by Yves Cohat for me at the British Museum (London) in 2002, I think mainly because of our Scandinavian decent. As it turns out, it is a very interesting and informative little book with beautiful illustrations. The articles are well written and historically documented. The chronology and index allow easy referral.

I found special interest in the chapters: The Vikings at Home and Gods and Heroes.

Good little book for general view of Vikings.

[Matic Sket · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ancient Greece is interesting, also Egypt and the Great Mongol Empire.
Romans and Samurai warriors of Japan, of course.
But Vikings...Vikings are just bad*ss motherf*ckers.


Map of; been there, rape/kill/steal that!

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about 100 small pages of text with illustrations, paintings, and photographs being the biggest in emphasis. Gives a rough overview of Viking history and influence with some very nice images.

[Joe Drogos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool little illustrated pocket book about the Vikings. Perfect for a short plane ride, or your fifth-grade nephew.

[Thieluar]

It's an okay book. There is some emphasis on archaeologic digs and it's very easy to read. It has bright clear pictures and at the end you will find summaries of important norse literature.

[Michael P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-done introduction to Viking history and life.

[Massimiliano Prandini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Molto basilare ma ben illustarto. L'ho preso per farmi alcune idee anche visive del popolo vichingo che fossero più veritiere dell'iconografia classica da film e in questo ha fatto la sua parte.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated history.

[John W.]

An excellent introductory history of the Vikings which I found useful background during our visit to Norway and Iceland

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great beginner book for this area of history. Easy read and nicely laid out. Very recommended

[Jasmina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little book, full of colorful illustrations. Too bad the info about the gods and Valhalla was so short, and I was expecting to find more about their life.