Blood of the Vikings - Hardcover

Richards, Julian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0340733853 ISBN 13: 9780340733851

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 2001

Synopsis

Published to tie-in with the BBC series, this lavishly illustrated book brings the world of the vikings to the present day - using up-to-the-minute scientific techniques to link us to our viking ancestors and answer the questions that have puzzled historians for centuries. The Blood of the Vikings is a five part series, each programme 50 minutes long, fronted by Julian (Meet The Ancestors) Richards, which will be BBC2's showcase series for next Christmas. It not only tells the story of the Vikings in Britain in a new and exciting way, but also uses advanced DNA testing to show how the influence of the Vikings has lingered genetically in modern Britain.

About this title

Review

In several BBC television episodes of Meet the Ancestors Julian Richards has shown himself to be an enthusiastic explorer of the past and an able advocate of the imaginative reconstruction of the lives of those who peopled it. In Blood of the Vikings, the book accompanying another BBC series, he investigates the reality behind the images everyone has of the Vikings as fearsome and barbaric warriors who raided civilised settlements mercilessly in the 9th and 10th centuries. The book reflects his travels for the TV series. Richards pops up, as curious and inquisitive as always, in a Norwegian replica of a Viking house, in the Orkneys, in Dublin and in other places where the legacy of the Vikings lives on. However, Blood of the Vikingsis more than just "the book of the series". As an archaeologist, Richards has worked largely on prehistoric Britain and he admits that he began this project knowing only a little about the Vikings. He has been a quick learner. At its heart, his book tells more than the story of his journeys to Viking sites. It provides an enjoyable and personal account of Viking history and culture and, particularly, of the confrontation between Danish Vikings and King Alfred's Wessex, a confrontation which did much to shape an "English" sense of identity. It shows, just as clearly as the DNA experiments which it quotes, that a little of the blood of the Vikings runs in all British veins. --Nick Rennison

Review

'A useful book...brings together a variety of evidence and integrates it well.' -- Historical Novels Review

'excellent' -- Time Out

'this is another example of why history on TV has never been better than it is now.' -- TIME OUT

'this landmark series' -- Daily Mail

'you can...revel in the beautiful photography of the book accompanying the series.' -- Daily Telegraph

About this edition

• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0340733853
• ISBN 13: 9780340733851
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 250