Viking Age Iceland

Oct 18, 2024 6:16 AM

Author:Jesse Byock

Viking Age Iceland

Medieval Iceland was unique amongst Western Europe, with no foreign policy, no defence forces, no king, no lords, no peasants and few battles. It should have been a utopia yet its literature is dominated by brutality and killing. The reasons for this, argues Jesse Byock, lie in the underlying structures and cultural codes of the islands' social order. 'Viking Age Iceland' is an engaging, multi-disciplinary work bringing together findings in anthropology and ethnography interwoven with historical fact and masterful insights into the popular Icelandic sagas, this is a brilliant reconstruction of the inner workings of a unique and intriguing society.

Reviews

One of the most brilliant journalists in the country

—— Daily Mail

Peerless reporting ... sharp and instructive ... wonderfully acidic about people when he thinks they deserve it

—— Observer

A national institution

—— Sunday Times

Playing devil's advocate is the function he performs better than anyone else anywhere ... an excellent and amusing read

—— New Statesman

Written from the battlefield ... Humphrys has written an important book

—— Irish Times

The best political diarist of our times

—— Malcolm Rutherford, Financial Times

Reading A. N. Wilson's The Victorians provides ongoing pleasure in handsomely researched, beautifully written prose about an age which we have come to think disparagingly. We thought wrong

—— Clement Freud , Mail on Sunday

The Victorians was one of the books that gave me greatest pleasure during the past year... A brilliant evocation of an age

—— Ian McIntyre , The Times

Rarely have author and subject been found in such deep and contented harmony... Wilson's tour de force

—— Robert McCrum , Observer

Wilson's panoramic survey is the best attempt so far to describe and explain what was happening in that fascinating time

—— Literary Review

The Victorians finds Wilson writing at the height of his powers

—— The Independent

I can't recall a history book furnishing so many laughs en route ... The Victorians is a work of scholarship, a labour of love, a persusasive polemic

—— John Sutherland , Mail on Sunday

Previous Article：Devil's Advocate Next Article：The Captive Mind

Comments

Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.