The Oxford History of the Vikings (Oxford Illustrated Histories)

Rating:
Summary: Christian propaganda about the Vikings endures to this day.
Review: 'The Nazis adopted Viking imagary therefore the Vikings must be Nazis' - was the person who came up with that howler having a blonde moment at the time?

Apart from that gem, the Vikings:

- Interests' lay more in establishing trade routes rather than looting and pillaging cities.
- Had an intricate and surprisingly sophisticated civilization for their time.
- Were heathens (non-Christians) in a period of time in which the rest of Europe was largely Christianized. This was to change over time; some by peaceful adoption of the new religion, others by torture. Still, much of the negative history of the Norsemen was written by Christian scholars...
- Were strongly family-oriented, believing that their strength came from their heritage and the blood of their ancestors.
- Used an alphabet (called a "futhark") consisting of only 16 letters (a reduction of their ancestors' earlier alphabet of 24 letters.)

To this day, their influences can be felt in the language, arts, and literature of modern-day American culture.

Or are you more comfortable with the 'murderous barbarians' conclusion. If not, buy another book.

Rating:
Summary: be real
Review: if ya get all romantic thinking about the vikings, just remember that they were the nazis of their day, in terms of senseless destruction and inhumanity.

Rating:
Summary: Fair
Review: This book falls below what I would expect from Oxford (at least the traditional Oxford of yester-year). The pictures are nice as well as a lot of the text. The main problem with this book is the chapter "The Vikings in History and Ledgend." The author of this essay insinuates that those who take pride in their Viking heritage are Nazis. This chapter is full of inappropriate partisan politics and hurts this book. It reads like propoganda straight out of a typical ADL hate tract.
One reader has obviously fallen for this line (see below).
There are far-better books on the Vikings out there. Go for Gwen Jones for a more balanced account.

Rating:
Summary: A comprehensive, intelligent history of the Vikings
Review: This is one of the best books on the Vikings I've ever read (and I've read dozens!). With numerous contributors from many universtities, each chapter is written with detailed authority and offers a fresh perspective. The chonology at the back of the book is a bonus feature. My only criticism is that, depspite chapters on exploration to the west (what I consider to be the most important legacy of the Vikings), Sawyer still tends to let the British perspective of victimization by the Vikings dominate the book.