Book Review -- Viking Britain; A History - Thomas Williams

Just a quick review for this one. Enjoyed it, and whipped through it fairly quickly. Williams has a interesting style. Many of the amazon reviews for this bemoan his tendency towards colourful, fictionalized prose rather than a dry academic style. While admittedly in the first chapter this is a touch overwrought, it's actually a style that helps make the book more readable than many other popular history offerings. It is also described as a 'narrative history', so, frankly, what did the reviewers expect?

Another strength of this book is placing the various phases of Viking invasion/colonization within a cultural context. Thomas is extremely strong when showing the interaction between Norse and Anglo-Saxon cultures, and tracing the roots of ideas back to their origins. This book is perhaps as much sociological as it is historical as it is narrative.

If you are looking for a dry who did what where and when, this isn't for you. If you are however, interested in getting close to the Viking and Anglo-Saxon view of the world, a world heavy with local myth, and replete with death, then this book is extremely evocative.

Overall, I feel that the original (alternative?) title I have seen this book under- 'Viking Britain: an exploration' is a lot more accurate, and would perhaps draw less ire from those simply looking for an enhanced timeline in prose form.

In terms of wargaming, the emphasis in this text on the fact that Anglo-Saxons would repeatedly choose symbolic sites, such as those replete with megaliths, as sites for battles will influence my Saga tables with a lot more fights occurring around barrows and undulating landscapes. Likewise, the brief descriptions of the problems with siege craft in the era is one that needs thinking about, and explains why the 'Protect the Burgh' scenario from Age of the Wolf was less interesting than it perhaps should have been.