Reviews with content warning for Violence - Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings by Neil Price

5 reviews

_grace_c_'s review

adventurous dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

You think you've a vague grasp on "Vikings" from the movies you've watched until you read this book; Neil Price hightlights that we can't just project our present views and concepts onto the people of the past and thereby explain away all of their actions. He challenges a mountain of questionable ideological assumptions that have been forced upon archeological finds and historical sources and shows how assumptions and previously made conclusions have stunted our ability to understand their world.
This book doesn't just come from the angle of 'Who were the Vikings?' but also 'What was it like to be these Vikings?' Price has written an immensely detailed book using the archeological finds from the period and openly discusses these findings without having to make adamant assumptions to fill in the blanks of time. Price didn't hide from the horrors that played out in the Viking Age and discusses these topics with emotion and transparency.
This was my first history book and overall I enjoyed it; incredibly informative although the interest did come in waves at times with such lengthy chapters. It taught me so many side's of the Vikings that I would never of considered (like how many sheep they required to sustain the diaspora!)

Content Warnings