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cemoses's review against another edition
4.0
This book was not as good as his previous book on the Normans which I thought was excellent. Like Brownsworth's other book which I read on the Normans, the book on the Vikings was both easy to read and provided a lot of information.
However, the Vikings were a more violent culture than the Normans(the Normans seemed to be average in the amount of their violence considering their times while the Vikings even by the standard of their times seemed ruthless) which was not altogether according to my taste. Furthermore, Brownsworth stress the Vikings war-like traits(remember the title is Sea Wolves) over their technological, legal or nautical contributions.
However, the Vikings were a more violent culture than the Normans(the Normans seemed to be average in the amount of their violence considering their times while the Vikings even by the standard of their times seemed ruthless) which was not altogether according to my taste. Furthermore, Brownsworth stress the Vikings war-like traits(remember the title is Sea Wolves) over their technological, legal or nautical contributions.
lindetiel's review against another edition
4.0
The Sea Wolves is a very comprehensive look at the history of Vikings. It does not go much into detail; it is rather an overview of how Vikings emerged in the Medieval Europe and how they influenced its growth at the time.
This book is a very good starting point for anyone who is either interested in exploring the history of Vikings or just want to explore the truth behind the stories suh as Cornwell's The Last Kingdom or History's hit tv show Vikings.
My only issues with this title is the language - which is not strictly scientific but feels rather like a textbook, written however by someone definitely fascinated by the phenomenon of Vikings.
This book is a very good starting point for anyone who is either interested in exploring the history of Vikings or just want to explore the truth behind the stories suh as Cornwell's The Last Kingdom or History's hit tv show Vikings.
My only issues with this title is the language - which is not strictly scientific but feels rather like a textbook, written however by someone definitely fascinated by the phenomenon of Vikings.
suzemo's review against another edition
3.0
First: the author totally owes my portion of his royalty check to Vikings, the show I binge stream whenever a new season becomes available.
I know relatively little about vikings, just the general "scandinavians running around raiding and raping and pillaging all over the the damn place, and oh yeah, there was that one guy that found North America."
This book was fairly OK. I got exactly what I expected I would get, which is a quick and dirty, and flashy overview of viking history. We don't get a lot of the cause and effect that makes history completely fascinating, we don't get a lot in the way of cultures, and we certainly hear nothing of the women. We get awesome highlights and an awesome overview of how the vikings ran about and where they ran about and when they did it, and some of the impact that had on political history.
'Light' history, pretty entertaining, so it was OK. To be honest, my favorite part of listening to this book was seeing how the show mashed up various real life characters and events into the show (hint: it's not historically accurate by a long shot, shocker, I know).
I know relatively little about vikings, just the general "scandinavians running around raiding and raping and pillaging all over the the damn place, and oh yeah, there was that one guy that found North America."
This book was fairly OK. I got exactly what I expected I would get, which is a quick and dirty, and flashy overview of viking history. We don't get a lot of the cause and effect that makes history completely fascinating, we don't get a lot in the way of cultures, and we certainly hear nothing of the women. We get awesome highlights and an awesome overview of how the vikings ran about and where they ran about and when they did it, and some of the impact that had on political history.
'Light' history, pretty entertaining, so it was OK. To be honest, my favorite part of listening to this book was seeing how the show mashed up various real life characters and events into the show (hint: it's not historically accurate by a long shot, shocker, I know).
crzyarrow's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to this on audiobook, which I think made it easier to get through than if I tried to sit down and read it. This book was a more entertaining way of learning about the Viking Age as the Norse pillaged, conquered, and traded their way across a large portion of the globe. I read this directly after having listened to the Great Courses lectures on The Vikings. This book basically reiterated everything that was in that course, but in a literary form rather than lecture form. There were some small differences in information, but nothing crazy. It is nice to listen to the facts multiple times for them to better sink in though. The biggest difference I remember is the larger amount of information provided in The Sea Wolves about Albert the Great, which I appreciated. He was a very interesting character, and this book made me want to learn more about him individually.
So basically, if you've listened to the Great Course on The Vikings then you've already learned most of the information in this book. If you haven't, want the information, but don't like lectures, then this is the book for you. All in all, a good read.
So basically, if you've listened to the Great Course on The Vikings then you've already learned most of the information in this book. If you haven't, want the information, but don't like lectures, then this is the book for you. All in all, a good read.
snowblu3's review against another edition
5.0
Fairly short audio book, and pretty entertaining for a work of nonfiction. It wasn't a dry and boring list of dates and names. It got into the juicy stories while also laying down adequate historical background. Good to hold you over while waiting for the next season of Vikings to air. Ragnar Lothbrok is even mentioned several times. Interesting details regarding Ivar the Boneless. I think the book's idea about why he was called that sounds more realistic than how he's portrayed in the show.