The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings

by John Haywood

Viking marauders in their longships burst through the defences of ninth-century Europe, striking terror into the hearts of peasants and rulers alike for two centuries. But the Vikings were more than just marine warriors and this atlas shows their development as traders and craftsmen, explorers, settlers and mercenaries. With over sixty full colour maps, it follows the tracks of the Viking merchants who travelled deep into Russia, of Viking mercenaries who served in the emperor’s bodyguard at Constantinople, and Viking mariners who sailed beyond the edge of the known world to North America.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Reference, Atlases, Maps, Denmark

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Geoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a basic history book, this probably merits 4*. As a historical atlas though, I give it 3*.

There are some fundamental problems with this book, for example on pp. 30-31 the text refers to events that are best understood using the map on pg. 35, but there is no indication of this...

Some of the other maps, despite being in full colour, are very difficult to follow compared to other Penguin Historical Atlases that I've read in 2 colours. The maps on pg. 63 and pg. 67 of the Viking invasions of England (Mercia, Wessex, etc.) are inconsistent - one overlays the dates/events on the map, while the other puts the dates/events to the side with a letter key. Neither is satisfactory.

So although I found the content to be worthwhile, I felt frustrated with the layout and design decisions.

[Liam || Books 'n Beards · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book with tons of well-presented information and very pretty maps.

[adrianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

informacje raczej podstawowe, ale bardzo dużo fajnych mapek, jak na atlas przystało

[Martinocorre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questo libro è una buona introduzione al mondo dei Vichinghi, ricco di fotografie e di molte mappe colorate che mostrano tutte le peripezie di questi pirati scandinavi, i quali misero a ferro e fuoco mezza Europa in un arco di tempo lungo circa quattro secoli, raggiungendo e colonizzando Islanda, isole Far Oer, Groenlandia e toccando terra anche in America settentrionale, seppur solo per breve tempo.

[George Siehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The historical atlas is a wonderful hybrid of a book. It unites history and geography, and provides great visual representations of architecture, museum items, landscapes, artwork, and people. It comes in sizes ranging from coffee table tome to pocket size and travel-friendly. It's subject matter can range from a time period, to a region or country, or a historical period. This is a good addition to Penguin Books' many titles in this genre.

This book covers the age of Viking exploration, piracy, warfare, settlement, and, bloody mercenary service, those fun years from AD 1 to 1500 in this telling. Author John Haywood provides a tight narrative nugget for each of his topics, while the accompanying map shows where the action is taking place. The varied illustrations provide detail and context. His intent is, he writes, "to highlight some of the major controversies and issues in the Viking age rather than provide a comprehensive introduction to the subject"

He states that the work "also reflects my own unease at the extent to which the importance of violence in the Viking age has been played down in many recent studies of the period." He adds, "The Vikings could be a pretty rough crew when it suited them, and it suited many of them very often in the period c. 800-1100."

It is a long and complex tale he unspools in chronological fashion. In all fairness, he does note that the Vikings were brave, faced many hardships, and lost many of their warrior behaviors over time.

This volume, while not pocket-sized, is easily portable in its roughly 7 x 10 inch size. That makes for easy reading and studying the maps. It would be a handy travel companion on a tour or cruise of the British Isles, North Sea, and Baltic. Even more, it tracks the Viking movement through Russia to the Black and Baltic Seas, something for travelers heading in that direction. The book also makes for good armchair travel, as well.

In addition to the aforementioned graphics, Haywood includes lists of the sequence of rulers in different Viking spheres from 800 to 1100, a selected bibliography for additional reading, and a detailed index. This is certainly worth a read either as a change of pace or as a useful starting reference to the period.

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book discusses the Viking Age (roughly 800-1100 AD) with photos and maps. Each of the 7 chapters in this book start with a few pages of an overview of history covering a certain time followed by detailed maps of the Viking adventures. Reading this, I realized how woefully inadequate my knowledge of the Vikings really was! For example, I had not known that they eventually sailed and sacked towns in the Mediterranean, that they fought the Moors in Spain and that they sat a king on the throne in England (though not Scotland). I also found it fascinating that it is felt Vikings have a bad reputation as mainly pillagers as they were the first peoples who sacked monasteries. They were after plunder and the monks had the gold! Not being Christian, they didn’t care or worry. Since monks were the main writers of history, you can only imagine what they thought of the Vikings. I found this type of book to be thorough, albeit a little dry. Given our plans to visit Skye, Orkney, Shetland (which to this day have mostly Nordic based town names) and 3 towns in Norway this summer, this was the perfect introduction to the relics we will be seeing.

[Mallory McGuire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike the Roman edition of this series, the historical atlas of the Vikings is a bit more than elementary. The maps are far more frequent, and far more interesting. The text side of things is far more in depth and insightful, and the maps are nicer lookers. There is a great deal of variety, with not only Scandinavia getting maps but other regions effected by the Vikings, such as the Mediterranean. This is a great intro to Viking history and geography but even myself who has been studying it for years can find value here.

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

An older (1995) but fun history book with a map and topic from Viking history on each page.
Some highlights: Danish Vikings ruled England for a significant period, Britain and France have many Viking place names, Normandy means "northman's land," hereditary monarchies tended to be more stable compared to elective which led to more disputes, the Vikings were everywhere, from Newfoundland, through Russia to the Black and Caspian seas, to Arab Spain, and all over Europe. A scary but interesting time. I found it fascinating that the Icelandic sagas hold so many clues to this time.

[Jeff Greason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Superficial treatment of the subject as one would expect from such a short book, but what is there is concise, clear, and seems to collect data from other references in one place. However, the important information is NOT FOOTNOTED, which is a rather serious defect, as I can't tell where to go looking for more detail. Still a worthy introduction to the subject.

[パット · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great summary of viking history and detailed accounts of various topics related to them such as lands they conquered, what their towns may have looked like, and how they lived.
Great for anyone with an interest in vikings and northern European history.

[Max D'onofrio]

I love a history book with a lot of maps. This series of books continues to deliver. I swear I learn more from these books than from any history class. And they are concise enough that when I am done, I actually remember most of what I was taught. Now that is a miracle.

[Travis West · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a Geography guy first of foremost. This reader immeasureably helped with my understanding of the other viking related books in my Viking History class. Maps are well done easily digestable and enjoyable to consume.

[Viktor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd like more and larger maps and less and smaller pictures of, say, swords and such.
It doesn't suck, but when there are 12 pages or so in a row with no maps, I'm disappointed.

[Bukshee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and has expanded my knowledge of Norse history.

[Jim Blessing · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did the Voyage of the Viking cruise this summer and got this book, which had a very detailed description of the vikings.

[Andrea Ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great maps, easy to understand topics. Simplifies the Viking age, great to read in complimentary with other Viking history books for reference.

[Vasilis Stefanou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple and short to read, yet comprehensive book on the Vikings and Scandinavia as a whole with illustrations and descriptive maps.

[Gerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memphis has a festival called MEMPHIS IN MAY during which a different foreign country is honored each year. This year the honored country is Sweden. When I went to the library a few weeks ago, there was a special display of books broadly associated with the honored country. This book happened to catch my eye as a part of that display. I guess I just recognized my underlying desire to learn more about the mysterious Vikings.

I had a vague idea of what is generally known about the Vikings. They “burst quite suddenly into European history in the last decade of the 8th century with a series of terrifying attacks on the coasts of Britain, Ireland and Francia.” These unexpected attacks on ports, towns, and monasteries shocked the Europeans since the pagan raiders recognized none of the accepted taboos that protected the property and personnel of the Church in times of war between Christians. The Vikings were highly mobile in their fast, seaworthy ships and could strike anywhere without warning. At first the raids were to obtain “portable wealth” and captives for ransom or the slave markets. Later, conquest and settlements became more important motives. “The term Viking has come to be applied to all Scandinavians of the period, but in the Viking age itself the term vikingr applied only to someone who went í viking, that is plundering.”

The history of the Scandinavian countries has always been shaped by its landscape. Although relatively small, Denmark had the highest proportion of arable land, with the result that the Danes were the wealthiest, most numerous, and most politically advanced of the Scandinavians in the Viking age. Norway was extremely mountainous, making travel by sea essential. Also, Norway was heavily dependent upon fishing because they had very little arable land. As they began to experience rapid population growth, this shortage of arable land became so serious that they were forced to migrate in search of land to farm.

What really surprised me to learn was the geographical range of the Viking plunderers. Their plundering activity was closely related to the respective locations of the Scandinavian people. Norwegian expansion was mostly to the west: to Scotland, Ireland, Faeroe Islands, Iceland and ultimately to Greenland and North America. These expansions are probably what most people today think of first when they visualize Viking raiders. The expansions of the other Scandinavians are what surprised me. The Danes territory straddled the main sea route from the Baltic to the Rhine, so they first concentrated on “Frisia” (the coastal provinces of what is now the Netherlands and costal northwest Germany. They also spread to England and Francia. The Swedes were cut off from the western seas by the Danes and Norwegians, so their outlet was to the east, along the great rivers that led to the heartlands of Russia. Viking fleets raided Christian and Muslim Spain and struck deep into the Mediterranean.

Viking raids to the west and south and even into the Mediterranean were not all that surprising, because of what I generally know of these activities. What really fascinating was to learn of the raids by the Swedish Vikings in the east. Their eastward expansion was primarily motivated by the desire to control the trade routes. By the early 9th century the Swedish Vikings (known as the “Rus” from the Finnish word for Swede) were navigating the Volga and Lovat-Dneiper river systems to make direct trading contacts with the Abbasid Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire, southeast and south of the Black Sea, respectively. The “Rus” eventually gave their name to the Russian state. During the 11th century, Vikings journeyed as far south as Sicily and even northern Africa and as far east as Constantinople (today’s Istanbul) and Jerusalem.

While I didn’t read every word of the test of this book, it has many pictures and is liberally illustrated with very interesting charts and maps. I would recommend it as an excellent resource for anyone who would like to learn more of the mysterious Vikings.

[Book 20 of 2013 Target 50 (Jan-6; Feb-3; Mar-3; Apr-4; May-4)]

[Bill Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book on the Vikings from their rise in Scandinavia and their first raids into England in the late 780's, through to the final battles in Scotland in the 12th century. The book concentrates on the central figures, the timelines and the geographical movement, but at the same time provides interesting detail on Viking culture. Many maps showing the detailed movements of the Vikings are included.

The first two sections describe life in Scandinavia during the Viking times. Scandinavia had entered a period of prosperity due to wealth from a large trading network that extended through France, the Mediterranean and on to the east of the Black Sea. The Vikings were a sub-set of the Scandinavians who engaged in raiding. In many cases, they eventually settled in various countries and melded with the existing population. Movements to the west were primarily from Norway and Denmark, while those to the East were largely Swedes.

Section three describes the various raids on Britain, with chapters on the Mediterranean and Francia. The Viking kingdom of York existed from 866 to 954. Raids on Ireland and Scotland are described. Rollo's Vikings settled in western France, giving it the name Normandy - Northman's Land, and were eventually assimilated. Rognvald conquered Brittany in 919 and held it to 939.

Section four concentrates on the North Atlantic. The settlement of the Faeroes started in 825. Exploration of Iceland started in 860, with settlement starting in 870. The Viking settlements of Greenland started in 986 until the 14th century when the climate started to get colder. Bjarni Herjolfsson was blown off course to Markland (Labrador) in 985, while Leif Eiriksson continued south to Vinland. While the settlement at L'Ans aux Meadows in Newfoundland is known, but there are indications that they traveled into the St. Lawrence and possibly Cape Cod.

Section five describes Viking movements in the East. The Swedes were called the Rus, from their Finnish name. Their initial movements into Russia in 800-913 were to establish a trading empire, with centers being established at Novgorod and Kiev. Raiding did occur in the early 900's, into Constantinople and the southern end of the Caspian Sea. Over time the Rus were absorbed by the Slavs.

Section five covers the later years of the Vikings. The last Viking raids were in the 12th century from settlements in Scotland into Ireland, Wales and western England. By this time, Viking raids in the rest of the world had ceased. After 1000, Svein Forkbeard maintained heavy pressure on England and was bought off with huge Danegelds - rising from 24,000 lbs of silver in 1002 to 48,000 lbs in 1012. He conquered England in 1013 and was accepted as king. His son Cnut inherited the kingdom in 1016. Cnut adopted English institutions, supported the English church and became to be accepted as an equal by other rulers in Europe. After his death, the native dynasty returned to power. The Norse settlers were assimilated with the native Celts. By the 12th century, the Scandinavian countries had unity, adopted Christianity and established monarchies. The last pagans were in the south Baltic - west Slavs or Wends - who continued to raid Denmark, until suppressed by crusades from Denmark.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent reference for serious students of Viking/Scandinavian history and the history of England leading up to the unification of the Anglo-Saxon petty states under William the Conqueror. The text is engaging and accessible enough that lay readers (as the the back cover of the book puts it) will be able to enjoy and understand the book.
It is very well organized, moving chronologically from the earliest excursions to mainland Europe, England, Russia and the Byzantine Empire. The text is broken into manageable one page summaries of the conquests and missions concerned with taking loot. The atlases are placed on the pages opposite the summaries and present a graphic representation of what the text outlines. The maps are well designed, the only complaint I have is that the lines showing routes are sometimes hard to differentiate because of similar colors being chosen for different voyages.
The only other serious complaint I have with the book is that it spends very little time talking about the expansion into Iceland, Greenland and Vinland/Markland. While the Vinland colonies are only spoken of briefly in the sagas, Iceland and Greenland are the subject of dozens of sagas, and in my opinion deserve a lengthier section of the Atlas. That being said, the book is altogether a well assembled, detailed yet concise description and timeline of the Viking age military campaigns of the Northmen.

[Nighteye · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a 3 or 4 star book, the motivation of the forth star are because all complemented maps showing so clear what happened during the viking age which I had much joy and help of during my viking course!

The books information is short which is good and have a lot of good maps which make the history more alive and gives a much more and better view of what actually happened then only texts.
The book gives only a clear Historical view of the viking age, not much a archaeological one, but that are put out the the title already :)

If you would like to read more theories or other views of the facts pressentated in this book I would recommend Brinks The Viking World, Roesdahl's The Vikings and Christiansen's Norsmen in the viking age.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quite solid effort, with lovely graphics and clear writing. Somewhat plodding in its organization: the book is more or less chronological, and sections generally tackle the various regions, in various eras, that the Vikings harassed and/or settled: England, Normandy, Ireland, etc. By the end, one feels a bit pushed by the bias toward conquest and territory, as opposed to neglected areas such as farming and weaving. Still, the book is quite well done overall and ranks ahead of some related titles.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Viking marauders in their longships burst through the defences of ninth-century Europe, striking terror into the hearts of peasants and rulers alike for two centuries. But the Vikings were more than just marine warriors and this atlas shows their development as traders and craftsmen, explorers, settlers and mercenaries. With over sixty full colour maps, it follows the tracks of the Viking merchants who travelled deep into Russia, of Viking mercenaries who served in the emperor’s bodyguard at Constantinople, and Viking mariners who sailed beyond the edge of the known world to North America.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found my copy of the Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings in a used bookstore called Idle Times, located in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC. One of my favorite used book stores in town. They have two levels, which means plenty of room to meander and find something you weren't looking for. Like this book. It was layed out on one of the steps to the second floor, one book for each step. Great display idea, you can't help but look.

[Lynn Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these Penguin Historical Atlases. They are a great, cogent introduction to their subjects---just the right amount of information for the "amateur" (you have to pronounce it with a hard T, like John Gielgud in "Chariots of Fire"). I don't have time for these 800-page tomes by the David McCulloughs of the world. But 96 pages with lots of pretty pictures? Can do. And I learned tons.

[Steve Bivans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't let the 'picture book' appearance of this little book keep you from buying it, even if you're a serious scholar. The maps are indispensable, and the chronology is laid out logically. One could design an entire semester syllabus based on the chronology in this little book.

[Matt McBrien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informative fun little book... but it's far too small for the topic covered. I thought it should have been far more involved.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book can help aid one's recollection of the time line of the viking age.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to Viking-era history, and a useful map-oriented review for those already familiar with the topic.

[zlu · Rating 3 out of 5]

good intro to viking history but too much focus on wars. half of the contents are maps with curved lined, not really sure if that's necessary.