The Vikings: A New History

The Vikings: A New History
By Neil Oliver
Published in March 2021
400 Pages
Thibault’s Score: 3/5

The Vikings A New History is a short survey history of the vikings. I basically came in knowing almost nothing about them, and thought it was a good place to start my historical research. I enjoyed listening to it, and would recommend it as a good starting point.

Oliver covers many different aspects of viking history. I liked that he starts by giving the context of Scandinavia - explaining the ethnic Sami and pre-viking peoples who lived in the region. 

He then explains their journey into Eastern Europe down the rivers, founding what later became Russia. He also discusses their raids in the North Sea, as well as their colonization of the Falklands, Orkney, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, and eventually the Americas.

The first half was captivating; but I wasn’t able to focus very effectively on the second half due to personal issues I had to deal with in the real world. As a result I personally didn’t enjoy it for purely selfish reasons. I gave it a 3 even though I would recommend it due to my own weaknesses.

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