Vikings: Raiders from the North

Lost Civilizations

by Dale Brown (Editor), Time-Life Books (Editor)

Offers an examination of the Viking era, using research done on salvaging ships, excavating burial mounds, and mixing 20th-century technology with 10th-century finds

Genres: History, Nonfiction

168 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1993

About the author

Dale^^Brown Time-Life editor/author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Marcos “MSMDragon” · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! It was so good. And I loved all of the photos!

[Gavin D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

CENTRAL WORD- In this book a word I believed the author was trying to highlight as the most important was the word “norsemen” I know it seems strange cause it’s more of a title less of a word you’d use in everyday conversation but it implies something subtle to the viking civilization. You see most people think of ugly stinky unsanitized brutes who plundered murdered and pillaged and did untold horrors across europe, which is true but that is only one side of the norse civilization. The other side is the norsemen this is what “vikings” should really be called it says in the book that vikings was more of a job or something you do on break to earn fame saying that the norsemen would go “ a-viking”. You see vikings means raiders and most vikings were younger sons or young men who wanted to prove their valor and make a name for themselves it was just like in columbus’s time where the second sons went to the new world to strike out a living since they couldn’t inherit. Most vikings were farmers and were even very civilized they set up one of the first democratic assembly’s in iceland called thingvellir were they would gather and discuss problems and solutions with their current society they also were some of the first to allow women to own land and get a divorce in fact the women looked after their land most of the time because their husbands had to work away from home or go on summer raids to provide food and sustenance for the family. and they were by far the best groomed medieval nation shaving and trimming their beard and often bathing at least two times a week (by today's standards that doesn’t seem like much but to put it in perspective the english bathed only once a year.) they also believed in being kind to others they were very charitable and friendly to neighbors. There are countless other examples of “vikings” being civilized and not the brutes we think they are but I have to keep it short so this is why I think the author meant norsemen to be the most crucial word to make people realize the norse were not barbarians and using this word separates the norse form the stigmatism we have of them being barbarians.


OPINION- The book is really informative it wouldn’t be that far fetched of a statement to say that it has every single tidbit on viking history currently known. It goes in depth on several excavations and archaeological finds detailing how they did it what they found and why it matters covering many angles. It also goes over societal life in the old norse communities telling very interesting facts about their lives giving us a neat look into what they were really like behind all the stigmatism and labels. The longest section is the section on norse expansion though I found this section dry and boring very hard to read for extended amount of times but for those invested in finding everything they can about the norse it has an extensive almost unnecessarily extensive documentation on their travels and everything in between. My favorite section is near the beginning this section addresses longship craft, family life and the details of their technology and weaponry it has a lot more texture and life to it and isn’t quite as boring as the last section this section goes over a lot of battles and conquests. Overall the book is very informative and destroys the stigmatism that vikings(norsemen) were ugly brutes with no intelligence whatsoever.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid addition to the "Lost Civilizations" series. The book's focus is on the extensions of Scandinavian society brought about by Viking military and trading voyages, rather than the history of Scandinavia itself. Chapters focus on the Norse influence on Russia, invasions and settlements in the British Isles, and voyages into the Atlantic. The illustrations of archeological sites and artifacts are fantastic.

[Henry Kline · Rating 2 out of 5]

interesting but a bit of a slog to read

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed it. Lots of great information and photos and maps. Helped me to understand the context in which these folks lived and moved and spread around. The stories about Iceland and Greenland were especially interesting...and chilling.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well-written, organized in such a way that the facts are presented as a story, making it very interesting.

[Jace.V]

Jam Packed with great information. Perfect book for what I was looking for (a book with as much information in as little the space)