John's Reviews > The Vikings

I read a lot of history and had never invested much time learning about the Viking Age (~900 to 1,100 AD). These lectures cover early Scandinavian history from the first millennium BC through the late Middle Ages as context for the two centuries during which the Vikings had an enormous impact on the development of Western Europe as we know it today. The pressure of Viking raids was a general catalyst for the formations of united kingdoms and governments throughout the British isles, Normandy, and around the Baltic Sea. For me it was fascinating to realize that much of the Vikings' martial dominance was due to its ships, which were light and shallow bottomed. Their design enabled faster movement of warriors and closer penetration to their targets via navigable river systems and portage. More than anything else, the force that brought the Viking Age to an end was the advance of Christianity, which created common cultural features across Europe and undermined the Viking warrior ethos. Great lectures.