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Lars Brownworth
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The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings Kindle Edition

by Lars Brownworth (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 3,277 ratings
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In AD 793 Norse warriors struck the English isle of Lindisfarne and laid waste to it. Wave after wave of Norse ‘sea-wolves’ followed in search of plunder, land, or a glorious death in battle. Much of the British Isles fell before their swords, and the continental capitals of Paris and Aachen were sacked in turn. Turning east, they swept down the uncharted rivers of central Europe, captured Kiev and clashed with mighty Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

But there is more to the Viking story than brute force. They were makers of law - the term itself comes from an Old Norse word - and they introduced a novel form of trial by jury to England. They were also sophisticated merchants and explorers who settled Iceland, founded Dublin, and established a trading network that stretched from Baghdad to the coast of North America.

In The Sea Wolves, Lars Brownworth brings to life this extraordinary Norse world of epic poets, heroes, and travellers through the stories of the great Viking figures. Among others, Leif the Lucky who discovered a new world, Ragnar Lothbrok the scourge of France, Eric Bloodaxe who ruled in York, and the crafty Harald Hardrada illuminate the saga of the Viking age - a time which “has passed away, and grown dark under the cover of night”.
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  1. Print length
    302 pages
  2. Language
    English
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  4. Publication date
    December 6, 2014
  5. File size
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Lars Brownworth is the author of Lost to the West and creator of the genre-defining history podcast "12 Byzantine Rulers." Lars has written for the Wall Street Journal, and he has been profiled in the New York Times. He lives in Maryland with his wife. Visit him at larsbrownworth.com.

About the Author

Lars Brownworth is the author of Lost to the West and creator of the genre-defining history podcast "12 Byzantine Rulers." Lars has written for the Wall Street Journal, and he has been profiled in the New York Times. He lives in Maryland with his wife. Visit him at larsbrownworth.com.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00QJ29DPQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crux Publishing Ltd (December 6, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 6, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3170 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 302 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 3,277 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Lars Brownworth

Lars Brownworth

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Lars Brownworth is an author, speaker, broadcaster, and teacher based in Maryland, USA. He created the first history podcast, "12 Byzantine Rulers", which Apple recognized as one of the 'top 50 podcasts that defined their genres'. He has written for the Wall Street Journal and been profiled in the New York Times, who likened him to some of history's great popularizers. His books include "Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire that Rescued Western Civilization", "The Normans: From Raiders to Kings", "The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings", "In Distant Lands: A Short History of the Crusades", and "The Caesars Volume 1: Julius Caesar - Roman Colossus". His books have been translated into five languages.

Lars Brownworth

http://larsbrownworth.com/

Finding History Blog:

http://larsbrownworth.com/blog/

Podcasts:

http://12byzantinerulers.com/

http://normancenturies.com/

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
3,277 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Bonzo
5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to read about the Vikings, look no further.
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2016
Verified Purchase
Great book! I read a lot of history, and Lars Brownworth is one of my favorite authors.

This book is a good overview of Viking history. It goes just in-depth enough to satisfy without bogging in details. Mr. Brownworth is especially adept dealing with Western invasions (British Isles)- this was clearly his interest. Also had excellent overview on the Varangian Guard, the Viking shock troops of Byzantine emperors, no doubt piggyback knowledge from his excellent treatise on the Byzantine Empire. Brownworth is technical enough to give solid, reliable history, but leisurely enough that is engaging and accessible. He strikes a near perfect balance. It also has excellent maps and a glossary of people and places. I have read many books on Vikings for both research and leisure, and this is the best I've come across.

It's weaknesses- very poor editing. It is riddled with typos, for which I blame the publisher. It also sorely needs a timeline to go along with the maps and glossaries. If a republish is ever made, Crux Publishing needs to strongly push for this. The cover art is kitsch, but oh well. Brownworth also glosses over the Swedish Vikings, and doesn't mention the Estonian groups. Normans are also absent, though he did write an entire book on that sub-group.

Excellent book, a must read.
13 people found this helpful
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Matthew
4.0 out of 5 stars Very decent non-scholarly primer on the subject, but marred by lots of errors
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2018
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This is a good follow-up to fans of Bernard Cornwell and/or the Vikings series; it's very broad and its tone and pace are generally punchy enough to keep things moving while providing salient details. It gave me a quick-and-dirty overview of all things Viking, but it is not a source I would want to put on my works cited page for a graduate history course, for two reasons.

First, as the author's own bibliographic page makes clear, his own source pool is (on average) very recent and relatively shallow. The number and type of sources make clear that this is not a scholarly work. To be fair, the author never claims to be an academic expert, but I feel like anything labeled historical non-fiction has a certain implicit burden of scholarship.

Second, as one of the highly-rated reviews said, this book suffers greatly from a lack of even basic proofreading. Like, as a person with a basic degree in English, I wish the author had asked someone with a basic degree in English to look over his manuscript even once before publishing it. And, to clarify: I don't mean, "OMG, he used the Oxford comma on page 47 but failed to use it on page 216! Burn it with fire!" I mean glaring, smack-your-head-into-the-desk errors that totally pull you out of the book and make you start to doubt if the author is even getting his historical facts right.

I gave this book four stars because A) the author is a high-school history teacher, not a career academic, so I cut him slack on the errors, and B) it whetted my appetite for more material from that age and area; I've now got a half-dozen more scholarly (and probably less-entertaining) books on my wish list.
38 people found this helpful
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dcs
5.0 out of 5 stars Graet e-reading experience
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2015
Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed reading this book *and* learned a lot from it. First the learning: pretty much all I knew about Vikings came from movies, so most of this was new to me. I was shocked by the brutality of the culture, and sort of awed by the persistent aggression they showed. I also was totally unaware of the huge number of cultures they interacted with, and the effect they had on those cultures - in some cases, how little effect they had for the amount of havoc they played. As to enjoying reading the book, it was well-written about an interesting topic - the essence of why I enjoy books, but I found it *really* remarkable because it is the most effectively organized ebook I've read:
* The footnotes are set up for easy navigation, so it's easy to follow them - in many ebooks, I just give up because it's so frustrating to try to punch the teeny-weeny number.
* There is a "Cast of Characters" at the front of the book so you know it's there and can refer to it - important for me because almost all the names were unfamiliar.
* I don't think I noticed a single editing error.

All-in-all, it was the best e-reading experience I've had. Thanks, Mr. Brownworth!
3 people found this helpful
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J. L. Owens
5.0 out of 5 stars Well Done
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2023
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I was a bit skeptical due to the length of the book but it was a very well written concise history of the Vikings, gives a new perspective when taken in from beginning to end of their reign. I enjoyed it.
One person found this helpful
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Ed Barton
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Read
Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2023
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A comprehensive and fun read about the rise and fall of the Vikings from about 700-1100. I learned a lot, and thoroughly enjoyed the non-academic reading style. A good introduction to the Vikings and Middle Ages Europe generally.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Ryan M Donovan
5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic book
Reviewed in Canada on January 10, 2024
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Extremely well written. Some history books are too dry, but not this one. A fantastic read. I would recommend this to any history fan.
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Paul G
5.0 out of 5 stars Muy recomendable
Reviewed in Mexico on July 12, 2021
Verified Purchase
A pesar de una portada caricaturesca el contenido del libro es bastante formal y me gustó bastante. El autor divide y explora la figura del vikingo en conquistadores, exploradores, comerciantes y nación, este planteamiento es bastante natural y acertado. El libro resume aspectos relevante dando un entendimiento de la figura del vikingo sin sobrecargarlo de datos, por lo que creo que para neófitos en el tema o como libro de arranque a los que buscan conocer la historia de los vikingos es bastante acertado, o incluso será entretenido a los que tengan más conocimientos del tema.
One person found this helpful
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Alan M. Scopp
5.0 out of 5 stars Sehr informativ
Reviewed in Germany on November 21, 2023
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Obwohl ich selbst ex-Brite bin, habe ich in diesen Buch soviel über Englische und Europäische Geschichte gelesen wie nie zuvor. Ich hatte wirklich keine Ahnung wie sehr die Wikinger mit die Geschichten Ireland's, Englands und Russlands verwoben ist. Ich freue mich auf das nächste Buch über die Normannen.
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H
5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended!! Excellent well researched romp through Viking history all over the globe
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 28, 2022
Verified Purchase
I found this the best of the recent books I’ve read on the Vikings.
A really great read, well written and over sadly quickly once I started, as I couldn’t put it down.
Really well researched with no overly speculative conclusions drawn, with a good narrative assessing Viking history all over the globe including showing the Vikings in some rather surprising and unexpected places and roles, such as the Varangian Guards (an elite unit in the Byzantine army).
Highly recommend this, it’s the best of a good bunch I’ve read recently and if you want a great overarching book as an introduction to the Vikings this is the one to pick!
3 people found this helpful
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't stop reading
Reviewed in Brazil on March 18, 2020
Verified Purchase
This book is very good, the author gives us a complete history of the vikings and the world they lived in. From the first page to the last it remains factually accurate while also being interesting and hard to put down
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