What Life Was Like When Longships Sailed: Vikings, AD 800-1100

What Life Was Like

by Time-Life Books, Denise Dersin (Editor)

Drawing on art, artifacts, and literature that was left behind, these richly illustrated volumes recount captivating tales of everyday life in long-ago vanished worlds.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1998

Reviews

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great primer to Viking life. If you're at all interesting in these people through the ages, it's definitely worth checking out.

[Bob Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Put out by Time-Life writers and photographers, this book provides a basic overview of Viking history and society. It’s not overly scholarly or opinionated. While it’s fairly basic, designed for a young adult readership, a starter book about the 300 years when the Vikings dominated the world, I liked that the authors made no effort to sanitize a couple of the more cruel anecdotes but the book fails to contribute much to a glorious history.

[Coleen Dailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of what life was like when the people we call Vikings sailed. The peoples of Scandinavia, Norway and Denmark moved to other land when their own populations in their countries grew to large, or they just wanted to explore or trade. The book also describes some of the Norse myths and their trips North America long before Columbus. If you need a quick overview of this time period, this book is well worth the read.

[Nancy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating look at the Norse people and their early history. It is a well-researched book that covers all aspects of life at that time, and is fascinating reading.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dated information

[Sonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is part of an excellent series. It is readable for adults and children (I'd say at least 10-12 yrs old). Viking history is mixed with great pictures of their clothes, jewels, carvings, etc. I also enjoyed reading parts of the sagas and understanding (as much as we can know), why they went looking for loot and land to settle. It touched on the settling of Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland (and why they didn't stay). Kiev, Byzantium, and the Arab world (and of course, England and Normandy) were included as well. It reminded me what a feat it was for King Harold of England to have defeated Harold Hardradi (who had been a leader of the Byzantine Varangian Guard and a Viking)!

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly written for a YA audience, I nevertheless learned a lot from this book. It's a lovely mix of pictures, mythology, and more detailed history about the Vikings between 800 and 1100 AD. This is a subject about which I know almost nothing. I found the book randomly at the library and found it really engaging. I learned a lot about the various Viking attacks and takeovers in Europe, and surprisingly I learned a lot about Viking culture and why they were so, well, aggressive. I particularly appreciated the focus on women in Viking society as well. Well worth reading.

[Reading Through the Lists · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of the Viking era, enlivened with many interesting anecdotes and fascinating pictures. One particular thing I like about this series is that they use stories about actual people and events of the era to season what otherwise might be rather plain facts.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

What Life Was Like When Longships Sailed: Vikings, AD 800-1100 by time life books is a book that is a good resources with a great glossary, pictures and description

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well illustrated and written book

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little boring.

[Evan Hays · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really quite a good book. I just picked it up randomly from the library, but it proved to be a very well rounded and interesting read. It helped to have listened to Kenneth Harl's modern scholar on the vikings beforehand, but this book added a lot to that because it plays to its strengths. It has lots of excellent pictures of artifacts and intermingles history with stories very well.

I hope to read more in this series as I have time.