Robert Ferguson (1) (1948–)

I can not recommend this book for its intended audience, general readers, because the book is so one-sided. The author clearly despises the people whose history he tells, calling them not just killers, but "overkillers", whose cruelty was in a class of its own. When a "good" Viking shows up (Ohthere), the author seems to have trouble accepting that this Norwegian merchant and farmer doesn't want to stop on his voyage for some casual plundering.

Part of the problem may be that the author show more heavily depends on Anglo-Saxon, Irish, and continental sources: material written by the victims of the Vikings. Some scholars now deprecate the atrocities described in these texts. Use of sources from Viking lands and by Viking people might have suggested to the author that perhaps more than a few of the Viking people were like Ohthere.

When the author does choose to use Scandinavian and Icelandic source materials, he seems not to understand them. Just one example: the author writes that saga hero Grettir Ásmundarson was a coal-biter, a lazy idler who lounged at home with his head near the fire (p. 45). In fact, the saga author writes the opposite, commenting that Grettir was not an idler (Grettis saga, ch. 14).

Some of the author's statements and suppositions are just plain wrong. For example, he says that heathen Vikings had a loose conception of the calendar (p. 357) and that little is known of how heathens measured time and kept the date (p. 265). Clearly, keeping an accurate calendar was important to the Norse people. Heathen Icelanders instituted a calendar reform (Íslendingabók ch. 4) to keep the calendar in sync with astronomical observations. The Icelandic law codes (Grágás) are filled with examples that date from the heathen era which require certain actions to be completed by a certain date of the year, or result in penalties. These examples suggest a very strong interest in the calendar.

Last, the references cited in the endnotes are disappointing and include popular magazines and hobbyist websites.

One needn't apologize for Viking activities, but one ought to recognize the positive contributions made by the Norse people during the Viking era. The author has chosen to focus on the atrocities and ignore the rest. General readers interested in the Viking age should choose a more balanced narrative of Viking history. show less

I really liked this very personal account of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark written by an "outsider" who maybe shouldn't be considered an outsider after anymore, having spent more than 30 years in Norway, and became so much involved with Scandinavian literature and history.

This is not a very didactic book, following a strict pattern with the aim of guiding the reader like a student on history and culture of Nordic lands. The book is rather like an old friend buying you a beer, or aquavit in show more this case, and telling you personal stories, literary anecdotes, strange encounters with famous figures from the world of theater and cinema. The writing is fluid, but the author can easily deviate from a topic, only to jump to another anecdote, only to return the original theme some pages later. This is the beauty and curse of it!

One thing is certain: After having read this book, I know more about various aspects of Scandinavian culture, history and literature; and I'm motivated to learn much more. Hence, I consider this book a success, but I'm not sure I can recommend to everyone. show less

I describe this book with the all too familiar compliments one pays to a good biography, that it is objective and well detailed. This book gives us a picture of Henry Miller as an actual man rather than the exaggerated Leviathan of his own well-crafted and resilient mythology. More importantly, Ferguson shows that Miller is perhaps the most successful of such a man in letters. Few authors are harder to extricate from their literary doppelgangers as is Miller. In comparing Miller's actual show more life to his writing, we see how he lived paying self-conscious attention to his own myth, continually setting the stage and assembling the cast, sometimes in small detriment to his personal respectability. Ferguson explores the chronology of Miller's life, loves, and literature with careful attention, critical evaluation, and due praise. He shows how Miller is not just the dirty old man or modern sage, but the perpetual Brooklyn boy. Miller forever exudes childlike boundless joy. Something that both his predecessors and successors stocked lightly if at all. show less

I was hoping for better from Robert Ferguson's The Vikings: A History. A picture of how Vikings lived, the motivation for their exploration and raiding, a description of what they believed about the universe and life and death would have made this an outstanding book. Unfortunately, what I got was mostly lists of battles and a very medieval Christian, Western European view of the Vikings. In the end, there's just not that much known about the Vikings outside writings by their victims and show more enemies - with all the problems that come from trying to understand a culture through unfriendly eyes. So I suppose it's not Ferguson's fault that the book is dull as dishwater. Still, I hoped for better. show less