Robert Ferguson's "The Vikings: A Comprehensive History"

William: If you like history and the Viking age this book is very informative on that period in time.a very good read giving clear understanding of the Viking culture and influence even today
the term Bluetooth was taken from a Viking warrior king.

United Kingdom on Oct 23, 2023

Kimberly: Really good book...has a lot of information about the Vikings lives and history.

India on Aug 26, 2021

Richard: This book is a very well-researched history of Scandinavia, particularly during the period when the Danes, the Swedes, and the Norwegians went "viking" and became known by that name. These people traveled to so many parts of the world and founded so many countries (e.g., Iceland, Ireland) that their influence is staggering. It would be difficult to find a Western nation and some Eastern nations which lack Viking influence in some form. Initially, these people scavenged, raided, killed, and frightened many who lived on the coasts of Western Europe. Later, they experienced a settlement period and expanded their territories inland. They founded Rus and Iceland, and built what became Ireland's cities. They also went to Byzantium and Italy, among many other places. Their skill with boat-building is well known and served them well. They were creative peoples but, given the different places from which they came, did not necessarily behave or conceptualize in the same way. This is an excellent book both for the neophyte and the more seasoned.

United States on May 15, 2021

Christopher Heard: Books condition was exactly as described. Very interesting look at the overall history of the Norse peoples during the Viking age and their interactions on a large scale with the surrounding lands and people especially England and France. Charlemagne even makes an appearance.

United States on Oct 03, 2018

Craig M.: Knows his Northern World , expert on its interactions with Frankia and Anglo Saxons ....the Celtic World is a bit of a mystery to him , his choice of sources was obvious even if he failed to fully grasp them , Rognvald Kelday Viking Highlands The Norse Age Hebrides is available in Kindle

United Kingdom on Feb 06, 2018

Ben Rothfeld: Engaging history of one of the world's great traveling peoples.

I really liked the author's focus on the long, slow adoption of Christianity, which threw the Viking stereotype into sharp relief.

Some choices, likely editorial, seemed odd. For one, I found the chapters dealing with the Vikings in England hard to read because, I think the book assumes that the reader is already familiar with medieval England (I am not). I suspect that the author wrote for an English or British audience, as he goes into greater detail about Ireland.

Another odd choice was the lack of discussion of the runic alphabet. In a few passages, the author used unfamiliar letters without explaining how they'd be pronounced in English.

Still, fascinating take.

United States on Jun 01, 2016

andy walster: Good book but a very deep and laborious read to get through and understand all of the information written first time around but nonetheless very detailed on the history of the vikings and the author has gone to great lengths of research judging by the amount of detail on offer and with that in mind would recommend this book to anyone looking for good solid information about these magnanimous people and their culture.

United Kingdom on Aug 15, 2015

Tellef Øgrim: The Hammer and the Cross by Robert Ferguson offers perspectives to the viking age that were new to me. The teary that the first case of aggression was motivated by the gruesome treatment the Franks gave the non-christian tribes in the north of todays Germany is especially interesting.

United Kingdom on May 10, 2014

JULIAN ZEC: This book is very detailed and historicaly accurate document following main happenings in Viking history in IX-X century. People, places and motive are described in mostly chronological order, in Normandy, Danmark, British islands and Norway. But, this book is not for amateurs looking for romantic and epic work about Viking history.This is not Saga, but years of fact collecting and mapping. It requires deeper knowledge of specially interested in in Viking history, with enough knowledge to follow up different happenings and names in different times and places, in slowly changing geopolitical situation. Book is not easy to follow, and it is very factual, dry. Experts shall find it repeating and as a good ressource to quote from, but for wider public it could be too detailed and factual to follow.

United States on May 16, 2013

Fairlee E. Winfield: Ferguson is fabulous! I had trouble putting this book down. I felt I was living the Viking era. The first book on Norse history that mades the cultural and cosmological belief system of the Vikings clear to me. There is no bias in this history. The Vikings are brutal, but they are also traders and colonists. Since most of our information about the Vikings is derived from Christian sources, it is refreshing to read something of Charlemagne's brutality toward the Heathen Saxons. Could this have influenced the Viking raiders' viciousness? It seems likely.

United States on Dec 03, 2009