Interesting story on how the Vikings and English became a ...
347414
Interesting story on how the  Vikings and English became a part of each others heritage and gene pool.
248767
I am a fan of all things to do with Orkney and Shetland.  The viking history fascinates me.  The complex Norwegian/Scottish history of Orkney is extremely interesting.  I would recommend this book to people interested in Vikings, western European history and on the distinct culture of Orkney,U.K.
1199147
This is a historical fiction set in the times when the Danes were settling in the British territories of the Anglo-Saxons.  The story takes place in the reign of King Alfred of Wessex.

This is actually the third in a series, but it reads well as an independent story.  I had not seen the series and just came across this volume in a bookstore while living in Edenvale, South Africa in 2007.  I was not familiar with Bernard Cornwell, and was pleased with the authentic flavour and style of his writing and character development.

He comments in the story on the differences in the Germanic dialects of the Danish Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons.  The author reflects extensive historical research and projects a realism in the use of word-forms and names of places and people of that era.

The historical note at the end of the book provides some background to the characters and situation the story portrays.  The story illustrates out the reality of the complex relationships between the different Viking and related Anglo-Saxon tribes and their rivalry over the centuries of settlement of the British Isles.
221035
A nice short overview of the Viking age. Learnt a few new things here!  Pity the spelling mistakes spoil the read,
4935524
Starting back 8000 years with the Indo-Europen roots of many of our modern languages, Claiborne traces the evolution of English through Old German and Scandinavian tongues, borrowings from Latin and French, up through the peculiar additions from America.  His vast knowledge of his subject and sense of humor make it a fascinating read.
4157881
James L Nelson is a great storyteller who has a very good base of knowledge about the periods of history he chronicles. This is the first in - at least for now -  a three book saga of the Vikings in the AD 800/900 period. Fast paced, brutal, amazing in describing the energy and barbarity of the Vikings. Highly suggest you read this one first.
5934
Most people with any interest in the Vikings have heard of Ibn Fadlan, the Arab traveler who famously witnessed the funeral of a Rus chieftain during a Diplomatic visit to the Bulgars. This short but evocative (and provocative) account was repeated in Michael Crichtons rather silly novel "Eaters of the Dead", and then again (in more fanciful form) in the even sillier film 13th Warrior.

Some are also familiar with some other fragments, such as a more sympathetic account of some Vikings in the trading town of Hedeby. Well, it turns out there are quite a few of these little fragments, almost all of which are collected in this book "Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness", along with other equally interesting accounts of travels by Muslim merchants and diplomats in Northern Europe and Western Central-Asia, among such interesting characters as the Slavs, the mysterious and evocative Khazars (the Worlds only ever Empire of Jewish Turks), the Bulgars, the Magyars, Norsemen and Saxons.

Among other things I found interesting it includes the first ever (early 10th Century) account of Prague at a time when I thnk it was still pagan, (described as a prosperous stone city with very cheap provisions and good quality trade goods) a 10th Century description of Mainz (in which they mention the markets included cloves and ginger from the East Indies) and a first hand account of the then Danish town of Schleswig in which the locals are described as wearing eye-makeup, as well as trips into the far north (the land of darkness) and descriptions of ice skating and dog sleds and other exotica.

Maybe the most gripping part was a short but by far the most epic account of a (Rus) Viking raid that I've ever read. A very vivid and evocative description of a large 'Rus' invasion and their capture and subsequent abandonment of a large Muslim town in the coast of the Caspian Sea, which virtually demands to be made into a movie.

Most of the accounts are from the 9th-10th Centuries, and almost all from Arab, Moorish (in one case Moorish-Jewish), Turkish or Persian authors, with a couple of short excerpts from the Russian Primary Chronicle and Marco Polo thrown in for variety.

If you have any interest in the Vikings or in this early period of Medieval history, this is a must-read in my opinion.
899028
An  another adventure in the Viking invasion of Britain in the mid 800AD that is well researched,  well written with interest.
2029944
Amazing story of the Little Ice Age, about 1100-1850 AD.  This era followed the Great Warming which itself led to a flourishing of European civilization.  Because of the extreme change, Greenland may not have been a Viking real estate scam. after all.  The giant island may have had a more generous border of greenery during the Great Warming which froze in the centuries following, isolating Viking settlers from resupply from Iceland, threatening their fishing by an southern-expanding ice pack, and, ultimately, dooming the colony of legendarily tough people.  The Little Ice Age had other effects, such as insuring that Americans grew up a beer-drinking rather than wine-drinking people.  The documentary also points out how the Year Without a Summer in the early 1800's resulted from this trend, compounded by major volcanic eruptions ...which may have had more impact on weather change than is usually credited.  This History Channel special report is very illuminating and makes a good case for the Little Ice Age.
1807460
The scope of this book is wider than the story of how people populated Scotland over thousands of years. It's also about all of the British Isles and Europe and Africa, and how various groups, mostly farmers, moved incrementally westward toward Britain. It's full of stories about archaeological evidence of ancient settlers, and place names that have survived from ancient times. DNA sampling reveals areas where Norse, German, French and other settlers dwelt.

One of the most interesting stories to me was about the last Ice Age, when ice was piled high in Scotland and around the northern hemisphere. The water that formed all that ice came from the world's oceans, to the extent that the sea level was low enough that people and animals could walk from Africa and Europe to what is now Britain. Skeletal remains of animals native to Africa have been found in Britain. There was a settlement in what is now the English Channel. The ice melted, and the oceans rose, forming the English Channel. Later migrations to Britain were by boat.

The book has no pretensions of a page-turning plot, but I remained fascinated throughout. I am very happy to know so much more about my ancient ancestors.
25976
The Norseman by Jason Born was an enjoyable book  with a historical background of the Viking era, and a story line filled with excitement and adventure with a colorful description of characters.  Knowing nothing of Viking history I felt as if I actually learned something along the way.  I'm looking for the next book about Halldorr and his Viking pals to come out soon.
862673
This is not a casual study of the Anglo-Saxons.  It is an eye-opener for the person, like me, who thought Anglo-Saxons are just a couple of Germanic speaking tribes that invaded the British isles. The author does a very good job of covering the various tribal and linguistic groups that are included in our term "Anglo-Saxon." Very well researched and worth the time it takes to read.
1703947
The books facts were quite good and it's jump into Viking lore was intriguing. However, it jumped from fact to lore so often that it was sometimes quite difficult to tell when the author had changed points. There were so many characters and names in the book it would be impossible for me to reiterate more than three of them to you with clarity or certainty. Those are the reasons why it is not a five star book. It is a four star book because of it's straight forward, to the point, style. If you want a quick (and so far the best for me) understanding of how Vikings lived and a better understanding of their culture, I highly recommend this book.
3751521
An intruiging book that shows you what the Vikings did for a life, what they built in their time, what they made and also who they fought and taught other siblings how to fight.  I reccomend the book for an enjoyable  reading time.
2197386
I enjoyed this book, filled with historical detail about the time period of the Viking age leading up to the Norman Conquest.  The book is a collection of novelettes with different generations of characters, all fulfilling an obscure prophecy foretelling events that are heralded by each appearance of what will be known as Halley's Comet.

The book concludes with one of the most famous appearances of Halley's Comet, during the time when William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, establishing the Norman dominance of Britain.  The author deftly weaves characters through interactions with Harold and William, allowing us a ringside seat during this epic battle.  The book also weaves the characters into another actual historic occurrence, a Viking chieftan's funeral and ship burial as recorded by a contemporary Arab observer.  (This burial did occur and was also adapted into a scene in the movie "The 13th Warrior" with Antonio Banderas.)

The only downside to this book is that each of the novelettes is a separate story, so that the reader becomes engaged with the characters only to come to the end of their particular saga, moving on to the next century's descendants and their life and times.  In the process, however, one gains a consciousness of how time unceasingly marches forward in one's own ancestry, as we each have our brief time upon the stage of history.

(I believe this is the best book of the four-part series.  In fact, it could be read/appreciated alone.)
4379538
This book was a good, fast read.  The action moved along well, and, in my opinion, provided a believable picture of the Vikings and how they lived.  Don't think it was as well written as Bernard Cornwell' s Viking series, but it was well worth reading.  I am already looking forward to the next book in the series, Viking Warrior.
3947660
I enjoyed this book and it was an easy read wven though it was fiction about the distant past and the Viking influence and their descendants. I recommend this read.