The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings

Author: P. H. Sawyer
Publisher: Oxford Illustrated History
ISBN: 9780192854346
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 346

Book Description
Were the Vikings, as an early description had it, a 'valiant, wrathful, foreign, purely pagan people' who swept in from the sea to plunder and slaughter? Or in the words of a Manx folksong, "war-wolves keen in hungry quest', who lived and died by the sea and the sword? Or were they unusually successful merchants, extortionists, and pioneer explorers? This book considers the latest research and presents an authoritative account of the Vikings and their age. Excavations as far apart as Dublin and Newfoundland, York and Russia, provide fascinating archaeological evidence, expertly interpreted in this extensively illustrated book.

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings

Author: P. H. Sawyer
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 350

Book Description
Twelve reading scholars draw on the latest research and archaeological evidence to provide an honest picture yet of this fabled people, known as the "Northmen." 110 photos, 24 full-color line illustrations, 16 maps.

The Oxford Illustrated History of the World

Author: Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191067202
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 448

Book Description
Imagine the planet, as if from an immense distance of time and space, as a galactic observer might see it—with the kind of objectivity that we, who are enmeshed in our history, can ́t attain. The Oxford Illustrated History of the World encompasses the whole span of human history. It brings together some of the world's leading historians, under the expert guidance of Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, to tell the 200,000-year story of our world, from the emergence of homo sapiens through to the twenty-first century: the environmental convulsions; the interplay of ideas (good and bad); the cultural phases and exchanges; the collisions and collaborations in politics; the successions of states and empires; the unlocking of energy; the evolutions of economies; the contacts, conflicts, and contagions that have all contributed to making the world we now inhabit.

The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe

Author: George Holmes
Publisher: Oxford Illustrated History
ISBN: 9780192854353
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 444

Book Description
'The individual chapters are scholarly and up to the minute, without loss of accessibility or pace. The illustrations are many, apposite and refreshingly unhackneyed.' -Times Literary Supplement

The Age of the Vikings

Author: Anders Winroth
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691169292
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Book Description
A major reassessment of the vikings and their legacy The Vikings maintain their grip on our imagination, but their image is too often distorted by myth. It is true that they pillaged, looted, and enslaved. But they also settled peacefully and traveled far from their homelands in swift and sturdy ships to explore. The Age of the Vikings tells the full story of this exciting period in history. Drawing on a wealth of written, visual, and archaeological evidence, Anders Winroth captures the innovation and pure daring of the Vikings without glossing over their destructive heritage. He not only explains the Viking attacks, but also looks at Viking endeavors in commerce, politics, discovery, and colonization, and reveals how Viking arts, literature, and religious thought evolved in ways unequaled in the rest of Europe. The Age of the Vikings sheds new light on the complex society, culture, and legacy of these legendary seafarers.

A History of the Vikings

Author: Gwyn Jones
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780192801340
Category : Civilization, Viking
Languages : en
Pages : 556

Book Description
A look at the ancient Scandinavian peoples.

The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings

Author: John Haywood
Publisher: Penguin Books
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Book Description
Atlas showing the range of Viking developments and exploration.

The Vikings

Author: Robert Ferguson
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101151420
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 502

Book Description
A comprehensive and thrilling history of the Vikings for fans of the History Channel series From Harald Bluetooth to Cnut the Great, the feared seamen and plunderers of the Viking Age ruled Norway, Sweden, and Denmark but roamed as far as Byzantium, Greenland, and America. Raiders and traders, settlers and craftsmen, the medieval Scandinavians who have become familiar to history as Vikings never lose their capacity to fascinate, from their ingeniously designed longboats to their stormy pantheon of Viking gods and goddesses, ruled by Odin in Valhalla. Robert Ferguson is a sure guide across what he calls "the treacherous marches which divide legend from fact in Viking Age history." His long familiarity with the literary culture of Scandinavia with its skaldic poetry is combined with the latest archaeological discoveries to reveal a sweeping picture of the Norsemen, one of history's most amazing civilizations. Impeccably researched and filled with compelling accounts and analyses of legendary Viking warriors and Norse mythology, The Vikings is an indispensable guide to medieval Scandinavia and is a wonderful companion to the History Channel series.

The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern China

Author: Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191506710
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 444

Book Description
This lavishly illustrated volume explores the history of China during a period of dramatic shifts and surprising transformations, from the founding of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) through to the present day. The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern China promises to be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand this rising superpower on the verge of what promises to be the 'Chinese century', introducing readers to important but often overlooked events in China's past, such as the bloody Taiping Civil War (1850-1864), which had a death toll far higher than the roughly contemporaneous American Civil War. It also helps readers see more familiar landmarks in Chinese history in new ways, such as the Opium War (1839-1842), the Boxer Uprising of 1900, the rise to power of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, and the Tiananmen protests and Beijing Massacre of 1989. This is one of the first major efforts -- and in many ways the most ambitious to date -- to come to terms with the broad sweep of modern Chinese history, taking readers from the origins of modern China right up through the dramatic events of the last few years (the Beijing Games, the financial crisis, and China's rise to global economic pre-eminence) which have so fundamentally altered Western views of China and China's place in the world.

Silk for the Vikings

Author: Marianne Vedeler
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1782972153
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 137

Book Description
The analysis of silk is a fascinating topic for research in itself but here, focusing on the 9th and 10th centuries, Marianne Vedeler takes a closer look at the trade routes and the organization of production, trade and consumption of silk during the Viking Age. Beginning with a presentation of the silk finds in the Oseberg burial, the richest Viking burial find ever discovered, the other silk finds from high status graves in Scandinavia are discussed along with an introduction to the techniques used to produce raw silk and fabrics. Later chapters concentrate on trade and exchange, considering the role of silk items both as trade objects and precious gifts, and in the light of coin finds. The main trade routes of silk to Scandinavia along the Russian rivers, and comparable Russian finds are described and the production and regulation of silk in Persia, early Islamic production areas and the Byzantine Empire discussed. The final chapter considers silk as a social actor in various contexts in Viking societies compared to the Christian west.