Viking Britain

A new narrative history of the Viking Age, interwoven with exploration of the physical remains and landscapes that the Vikings fashioned and walked: their rune stones and ship burials, settlements and battlefields. To many, the word Viking brings to mind red scenes of rape and pillage, of marauders from beyond the sea rampaging around the British coastline in the last gloomy centuries before the Norman Conquest. And it is true that Britain in the Viking Age was a turbulent, violent place.

Harald Sigurdsson burst into history as a teenaged youth in a Viking battle from which he escaped with little more than his life and a thirst for vengeance. But from these humble origins, he became one of Norway’s most legendary kings. The Last Viking is a fast-moving narrative account of the life of King Harald Hardrada, as he journeyed across the medieval world, from the frozen wastelands of the North to the glittering towers of Byzantium and the passions of the Holy Land, until his warrior death on the battlefield in England.

During the first millennium AD the most northerly part of Britain evolved into the country known today as Scotland. The transition was a long process of social and political change driven by the ambitions of powerful warlords. At first these men were tribal chiefs, Roman generals, or rulers of small kingdoms.

In Lost Realms, Thomas Williams, bestselling author of Viking Britain, uncovers the forgotten origins and untimely demise of nine kingdoms that hover in the twilight between history and fable, whose stories hum with saints and gods and miracles, with giants and battles and the ruin of cities. Why did some realms—like Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria and Gwynedd—prosper while these nine fell? Williams brings together new archaeological revelations with the few precious fragments of written sources to have survived to rebuild a lost world.

We tend to think about the Middle Ages as a dark and backward time, characterised by violence, ignorance and superstition. We believe that life was unchanging over the period, so if a peasant fell asleep in in the year 1000 and woke up six hundred years later, he would return to a world that was instantly recognisable. We hold that change is facilitated by science and technological innovation, and that it was the inventions of recent centuries, from the steam engine to the Internet, that created the modern world. We couldn't be more wrong.

In a saga reminiscent of Game of Thrones and The Last Kingdom, Battle for the Island Kingdom reveals the life-and-death struggle for power which changed the course of history. The six decades leading up to 1066 were defined by bloody wars and intrigues, in which three peoples vied for supremacy over the island kingdom. In this epic retelling, Don Hollway (The Last Viking) recounts the clashes of Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and Normans, their warlords and their conniving queens.

The Pale Horseman is the compelling sequel to the best-selling The Last Kingdom. Uhtred, Northumbrian born, raised a Viking and now married to a Saxon, is already a formidable figure and warrior. But at 20 he is still arrogant, pagan, and headstrong, so not a comfortable ally for the thoughtful, pious Alfred. But these two, with Alfred's family and a few of Uhtred's companions, are apparently all that remains of the Wessex leadership after a disastrous truce.

Rescued as an infant from the wreckage of his boat, Caelin ap Cadwyr has come to be raised as a Norseman, far from his homeland, his family, and his destiny. Given a new name - Rathulf Thorvaldarsson - the orphaned Briton is unaware that his chosen path as a Viking warrior is soon to be thrown wildly off course.

Viking London is a short book of the hidden history, archaeology and folklore of London in the Viking Age and its echoes through history. The narrative history that can be told is limited, and this book is, therefore, unorthodox and digressive in its structure and its layering of voices, impressions and characters, stories, objects and buildings.

Until Scandinavia converted to Christianity and came under the rule of powerful kings, the Vikings were a dominant force in the medieval world. Outfitted with wind-powered sailing ships, they left their mark, spreading terror across Europe, sacking cities, deposing kings, and ransacking economies. But as much as we know about this culture, there is a large missing piece: its women. In this revisionist portrait, science journalist Heather Pringle turns those assumptions on their head, using the latest archaeological research and historical findings to reveal this group as they actually were.

If you want to discover the captivating history of Mercia, then pay attention...The Kingdom of Mercia lasted for more than 500 years. Such a long period of time brought change to all aspects of Mercian life, and it is the role of history and this audiobook to follow that change through the centuries. But it wasn’t just the kings and queens that changed. The events of the period resonated within social and cultural life, religious beliefs, artistic expression, and trade. Everything evolved under the patronage of Mercia.

Embark on a gripping journey back in time with Vikings in England, a riveting narrative that brings the saga of Norse warriors on English soil to life. This meticulously researched guide delves into the heart of the Middle Ages, revealing the profound impact of Viking raiders and settlers on the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. You’re invited to explore the fascinating dynamics of conquest, resilience, and coexistence that defined this epoch.

In 871, three of England’s four kingdoms were overrun by Vikings, the ruthless, all-conquering Scandinavian raiders who terrorized early medieval Europe. With the Norsemen murdering one king with arrows and torturing another to death by ripping out his lungs, the prospects that faced the kingdom of Wessex were bleak. Worse still, the Saxons were now led by a young man barely out of his teens who was more interested in God than fighting.

If you want to discover the captivating history of England, then pay attention...There are few places that entice the imagination quite like England. Just a little island off the western coast of continental Europe, it boasts a rich history that stretches all the way back to the first modern humans. From the fearsome Celtic warriors of prehistory to the clever inventors and statesmen of the modern era, England’s story is one bursting with magnificent castles, complex kings and queens, rebellious peasants, and horrifying plagues.

This is the classic - and somewhat clichéd - image of the Vikings, and their fearsome reputation was in many respects well deserved, the Norse sagas charting their deeds in all their lurid glory. But over the past century, thanks to a wealth of new archaeological evidence, a much more nuanced picture of the Vikings has emerged, providing profound insights into one of the most astonishing, misunderstood, and adaptable of European civilizations.

Ningún pueblo de la época medieval fue tan temido, odiado y sujeto a las más diversas leyendas. Sus avances en la navegación, armas, organización social y particular mitología, los haría la ola migratoria más importante y significativa de los primeros tiempos de la Cristiandad. Fue tal el pavor de los pueblos atacados que cuando se escuchaba a lo lejos sus gritos de guerra, este rezo se volvía común: "Señor, apártanos de la ira de los varegos".