The Vikings and Their Age - A.A. Somerville, R.A. McDonald [epub]

The Vikings and Their Age is a handy guide for navigating the vast and sometimes troubled seas of Viking Studies. It offers a concise and colorful introduction to the history, society, and culture of the Viking world, masterfully integrating documentary records, material evidence, and literary texts. Through its critical engagement with source materials, references to current scholarly issues, and presentation of select individuals, objects, and texts, the book is also a methodological guide to the study of the Viking Age. Whether approached as a stand-alone volume or as a companion to the authors' comprehensive The Viking Age: A Reader, it could serve equally as a helpful undergraduate textbook or as an engaging and informative jump-start for graduate students with an interdisciplinary interest in the Viking Age. (Lilla Kopar, The Catholic University of America)

This is the first new textbook on the Vikings to come out in many years, and it is a fabulous addition to the field. When paired with The Viking Age: A Reader, the result is an integrated approach to the history, society, and culture of the Vikings. Basic apparatus like maps, a bibliography, chronology, and glossary are included, but there is far more to this teaching text than the basics. Throughout, and especially in the 'Questions for Reflection' section, major areas of disagreement among scholars are presented but left unanswered so that students can work out the evidence for themselves. The final chapter, 'A Case Study Exercise,' is a unique and exciting addition to teaching the Vikings.

Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: University of Toronto Press 2nd edition (March 27, 2013)