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A Brief History of the Vikings
- Brief Histories
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
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A Brief History of the Vikings
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Summary
"From the Fury of the Northmen deliver us, O Lord."
Between the eighth and eleventh centuries, the Vikings surged from their Scandinavian homeland to trade, raid and invade along the coasts of Europe. Their influence and expeditions extended from Newfoundland to Baghdad, their battles were as far-flung as Africa and the Arctic. But were they great seafarers or desperate outcasts, noble heathens or oafish pirates, the last pagans or the first of the modern Europeans? This concise study puts medieval chronicles, Norse sagas and Muslim accounts alongside more recent research into ritual magic, genetic profiling and climatology. It includes biographical sketches of some of the most famous Vikings, from Erik Bloodaxe to Saint Olaf, and King Canute to Leif the Lucky. It explains why the Danish king Harald Bluetooth lent his name to a 21st century wireless technology; which future saint laughed as she buried foreign ambassadors alive; why so many Icelandic settlers had Irish names; and how the last Viking colony was destroyed by English raiders.
Extending beyond the traditional 'Viking age' of most books, A Brief History of the Vikings places sudden Scandinavian population movement in a wider historical context. It presents a balanced appraisal of these infamous sea kings, explaining both their swift expansion and its supposed halt. Supposed because, ultimately, the Vikings didn't disappear: they turned into us.
Jonathan Clements is the author of Pirate King, Moon in the Pines and Confucius: A Biography. He lives in London and Jyvaskyla.
What listeners say about A Brief History of the Vikings
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- edward sidsaph
- 03-03-19
a most excellently well written and narrated piece
loved it cannot recommend it highly enough.The narrator really brought this book to life for me.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- guvsta
- 21-09-21
A bit of a drag
I really enjoy listening to historical accounts on Audible and I have a particular interest in this time period. This book did nothing for me. I didn’t get the sense of a true narrative through this time period and the narrator sucked the life out of it. I gave up, which is a first for me. There’s better accounts out there.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mr David Richard Gray
- 01-10-23
Enjoyable
The narrator's Shrek impressions halfway through were a weird choice but the rest was very enjoyable and informative.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jamie Barron
- 21-07-21
Consistently interesting
Coming to this with little prior knowledge of the Vikings, I really enjoyed this and got a lot out of it. I found the level of detail just right - enough to get me interested but not so much as to bog down the narrative flow. Mark Meadows reads very engagingly and enjoyably.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Minkymaid
- 26-01-14
Not narrated by Mark Meadows
Would you try another book written by Jonathan Clements or narrated by Mark Meadows?
Bought this partially because I like history, but overwhelmingly because I thoroughly enjoyed Mark Meadows reading another 'A Brief History ...' book on Victorian Britain. Very disappointed when the narrator announced a different name.
Not good, audible.
The narration is fine however - but not as good as I expected. If you are expecting the excellent Mr Meadows, be prepared.
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12 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr M Rosenthal
- 09-02-23
Enjoyed this
Nice book easy listen if you like these history stories
A lot of bits I never knew
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- JDH
- 19-05-20
Excellent.
I'm a big fan of Jonathan Clements. His books are insightful, well written, and benefit from an occasional wry sense of humour. This book is refreshing as it is told from the Viking viewpoint, and does a good job of making sense of saga, history and probably fictions.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- JH
- 01-02-15
Just enough to dip a toe into Viking history!
As the title says, this account of Viking history is brief but to the point. Modern thinking on Viking history is based on archaeology and written histories from both the Viking perspective and those civilisations they interacted with. This book is a good starting point for deeper reading, being a chronological account of the sources, influences and evidence. The reader adds some action to the book, successfully stopping me dropping off while listening, so I don't recommend using it as a book at bedtime!
The only thing stopping this getting 5 stars, is the only passing mention of Viking activity in Wales, where I live and spend my spare time looking for evidence of them and other Europeans(Romans
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- PHILIPPE DE SPOELBERCH
- 04-07-16
disappointing
disappointing, but now these brutal idiots did not build much, unless they settled and were educated by the church
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Martin
- 21-12-16
Fantastic listen, better than fiction!
Better than fiction! The fantastic history of the Vikings and their heroes and kings should be taught in schools all over the globe. This audiobook is properly gripping and on top of a great listening experience, I learned a lot about Europe. I totally recommend the audiobook narrated by Mark Meadows.
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1 person found this helpful