The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings

This remarkably well researched book chronicles the exploits of the Vikings through two and a half centuries of rampage and rule in mideval Europe. Thirsting for loot, they initially attacked the wealthy monasteries of what are now Great Britain and France, their prowess increased by a novel boat design (the keel) that made their warships faster and more maneuverable than any in existence in Europe. They well earned their reputations for brutality, fighting with a ferociousness that terrified their unfortunate victims, which were many. Survivors of their raids were often sold into slavery in the East. They were so feared by king and commoner alike that huge bribes were regularly offered if they would leave a specific location alone. Bribery usually backfired, only ensuring return attacks that had to be paid off with larger and larger bribes. However, more and more Viking rulers adopted Christianity, most often as a political expedient rather than a spiritual awakening, and became more interested in ruling rather than simply ruining. Viking kings eventually ruled large swaths of Europe, but they rarely gained the trust of their uneasy subjects. The author chronicles the alliances, treachery, and violence involved in their political maneuverings and their final downfall in battle that resulted in confining them to their native Scandinavia. The Vikings are the fascinating subjects of this highly readable work of non-fiction. No novelist could have dreamed up the countless adventures of these wild warriors.

An extremely informative, very readable, and wide-ranging work. While the author does provide a short bibliography, it is unfortunate that he chose not to include an index for a cast of, seemingly, hundreds. The enjoyment in reading this work, however, is sometimes interrupted by mistakes in grammar and semantics, which could have been easily detected by careful proofreading: “…the sobriquet by which his [he’s] most well known….” “The Anglican king Aella of Northumbria, who’s [whose] lands had been a favorite target….” “Captured enemies were routinely blinded, maimed, tortured, or hung [sic].” The author should know that unlike pictures that are hung, persons are hanged—a mistake he makes repeatedly. Comprehension would have been aided by the use of hyphens, e.g. five year reign, coin based, gold encrusted. Errors in apostrophes are bothersome, e.g. “The Saxon’s… now moved in….” “The Viking’s mobility had been the key to their success….” “The closest the Byzantine’s got to explaining it was….” Grammar mistakes are numerous: “If neither of those two options were [sic] available….” “…weapons which he forbid [sic] any Norseman to sell….” “… six women who [sic] the men refused to kill….” “… a nephew who [sic] he had expelled for treason.” The author is inconsistent in his use of who and whom, on at least one occasion (though not here) correctly choosing whom. The above are examples of carelessness or ignorance (hung vs. hanged). A more serious mistake is that of the dangling participle, which here makes one wonder just who was doing what to whom: “On the return trip to Kiev, while attempting to negotiate one of the dangerous rapids along the Dnieper, a group of barbarians ambushed Sviatoslav.” The barbarians must have had their hands full, negotiating rapids and ambushing Sviatoslav at the same time. Or is this indeed what the author meant to convey? Context says “no”, while form indicates “yes”. The author’s mistakes momentarily distract one’s attention, and they do detract somewhat from the overall impression of this otherwise scholarly work. Consequently and regrettably it deserves a rating of no higher than a 4.

Well outlined, well written, fast moving account of one of the most amazing few centuries of Northern Europe that came upon the Middle Ages suddenly and without warning. This people group changed the world as we know it. Lars includes sufficient anecdotal evidence to show how these warriors were the barbaric version of the Navy Seals of their day in terms of technology, adaptability, small and large group war fighting tactics, and physical size and prowess. No Geneva Convention within these pages. Brace yourself. He traces them from raiders to conquerors to explorers to traders over time and around the Arctic Circle. Most history gives just a little mention of these Arctic pillagers, perhaps due to their illiteracy. For example, Philip Schaff's 8 volume epic History of the Christian Church gives these Scandinavians a scant 20 or so pages, but does allude to the uncountable number of martyrs that gave their lives to convert these unfettered warriors. Some of the individual stories of their 'conversions' in Sea Wolves are memorable and tinged with ironic twists humor. Well written.

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!

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!

This book from the first page until the end was very was a great read.

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

Really enjoyed reading The Seawolves—an engaging and well-written book.

An interesting take on the Viking world learnt some things I did not know written in an easy reading and enjoyable way this author writes a good factual book.