Vikings - Softcover

The accepted history of the Vikings is of a band of blood-thirsty pirates raiding the peaceful monasteries of Christendom - and all of it is completely true. The Vikings took no prisoners, relished cruel retribution, and prided themselves as warriors. But their prowess in battle is only a small part of the story.

The Vikings themselves did not write their history - so we have to discover it. And that discovery - of the Vikings from their point of view reveals an extraordinary story of a people who, from the brink of destruction, in the course of 200 years reached around a quarter of the globe, and built an empire.

Now Neil Oliver goes on the trail of the real Vikings. Like the rest of us he has a deeply embedded 'knowledge' of who the Vikings were. But where did they emerge from? How did they really live? And just what drove them to embark on such extraordinary voyages of discovery over 1000 years ago?

Fortunately Neil has his timing right. There's currently a renaissance in Viking studies as a rush of discoveries come to light. The excavation of a Viking capital, new underwater wrecks, new scientific analysis of skeletons, discovery of coin hoards - all are giving fresh insights to a culture we thought we knew.

Using the latest findings and visiting some extraordinary Vikings sites in America, Europe, and the Middle East, Neil will build an epic chronological story of the Vikings, answering some of the really big questions for the first time.