This is a very academic text, and I think that's the explanation for the mediocre ratings. Ironically, the popular misconceptions that Winroth seeks to dispel with his book are likely what makes this book disappointing to some.

I welcomed the academic treatment of the subject, though I admit it was a bit dry at times.

He covers the culture and economy as well as the military/political history of this fascinating people and the period of time. They were a fearsome and complicated people, worthy of the respect and fear they inspired. On the other hand, they were not exceptional in their ferocity - they were a violent people in a violent time. They are cast as the "bad guys" because most of the written source material was written by the people they raided and not the Norsemen themselves.

What else is good? His explanations of the various sources and their limitations; the discussion of their poetry and art; and his coverage of religion. The last is particularly difficult given that almost all the material we have on it was recorded by Christians a century and more after nearly all Scandinavia had converted to Christianity. The Christians were more interested in consolidating variations instead of preserving them separately, and, once consolidated, harmonizing them with Christian material.

Overall, a 3.5/5. I'd go with 4 if it was a bit more engaging. Other than that, the factual material is great and it's presented well enough. ( )

It's a bit of a dry read just as many of the other reviews say, but as a serious text on a topic that's seen a lot of academic subversion in recent years, it's informative enough even if it could have been organised better. ( )

This was a very quick read for me.
I loved reading this book and learning more about the Vikings other than just the details that they were raiders and plunderers.
Winroth does a fantastic job in painting a more complete picture of the Vikings for the reader; he includes their raids and plunders, but he also shows a few other things about the Vikings: (1) how the Vikings would settle in places they raided, (2) how the Vikings in their original homes were, and (3) how much the Vikings actually traveled to gain knowledge.
I personally had always avoided Viking history because the main - and pretty basic - picture we get of them is wild, barbaric warriors who only raided, pillaged, raped and burned.
However, after reading this book, I am willing to read more Viking related history books! ( )

There's very little concrete evidence about the life of vikings so I give the author a lot slack but it's just needlessly rambling, randomly going into detail of some runic text ever so often. Also the moaning preface about how vikings were not violent is annoying, especially since the author goes on to describe how violent they were with the caveat that everyone was violent in the past. ( )

A solid overview of the Viking period which presents a synthesis of the most recent scholarly understandings of the history and archaeology. Anders Winroth organises The Age of the Vikings thematically and then uses a series of vignettes to illustrate his point. His prose is brisk and his explanations are clear. Recommended for someone looking for a quick but comprehensive introduction to this period of early medieval history. ( )