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A review by mnboyer
Beyond the North Wind: The Fall and Rise of the Mystic North by Christopher McIntosh
2.0
There were moments where this book had its plusses. The Audible narration, for example, was pretty nice. It was exactly what you'd expect if you wanted an older British man to read a history book to you (really, that is a compliment). Simon Vance is a really good narrator. There are also a few historical facts peppered throughout the book that kept me interested. And I do love a mention of Vikings, Thor, etc. (Thor films make an appearance in the book, take that as you will).
Where the problem lies is with the methodological approach to the text, which I found to be lacking. There's also a bit of whitewashing throughout and *barf* I'm not excited about that ever. It is absolutely fair to say that the Northerners had their own religions, cultures, etc., but it is ridiculous to assert that thus everything else sprang from them. I think by 2021 we've put that theory to rest (or at least, I thought we had, but apparently we're still discussing it here).
Thus, while I was originally excited about this book, it became something else entirely a few chapters in and I ended up not engaging with it as I expected to. Not bad/awful but definitely something I would not necessarily have delved into had I know we were going down the whiteism route.
Where the problem lies is with the methodological approach to the text, which I found to be lacking. There's also a bit of whitewashing throughout and *barf* I'm not excited about that ever. It is absolutely fair to say that the Northerners had their own religions, cultures, etc., but it is ridiculous to assert that thus everything else sprang from them. I think by 2021 we've put that theory to rest (or at least, I thought we had, but apparently we're still discussing it here).
Thus, while I was originally excited about this book, it became something else entirely a few chapters in and I ended up not engaging with it as I expected to. Not bad/awful but definitely something I would not necessarily have delved into had I know we were going down the whiteism route.