The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings by John Haywood

Even more, it tracks the Viking movement through Russia to the Black and Baltic Seas, something for travelers heading in that direction. It would be a handy travel companion on a tour or cruise of the British Isles, North Sea, and Baltic. That makes for easy reading and studying the maps. This volume, while not pocket-sized, is easily portable in its roughly 7 x 10 inch size. In all fairness, he does note that the Vikings were brave, faced many hardships, and lost many of their warrior behaviors over time. It is a long and complex tale he unspools in chronological fashion. He states that the work 'also reflects my own unease at the extent to which the importance of violence in the Viking age has been played down in many recent studies of the period.' He adds, 'The Vikings could be a pretty rough crew when it suited them, and it suited many of them very often in the period c. His intent is, he writes, 'to highlight some of the major controversies and issues in the Viking age rather than provide a comprehensive introduction to the subject' The varied illustrations provide detail and context.

Author John Haywood provides a tight narrative nugget for each of his topics, while the accompanying map shows where the action is taking place. This book covers the age of Viking exploration, piracy, warfare, settlement, and, bloody mercenary service, those fun years from AD 1 to 1500 in this telling. This is a good addition to Penguin Books' many titles in this genre. It's subject matter can range from a time period, to a region or country, or a historical period. It comes in sizes ranging from coffee table tome to pocket size and travel-friendly. It unites history and geography, and provides great visual representations of architecture, museum items, landscapes, artwork, and people. The historical atlas is a wonderful hybrid of a book.

The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings by John Haywood