From the Publisher: This concise and balanced history traces the 300-year saga of the pirates and warlords who poured out of Scandinavia between the eighth and eleventh centuries, terrorizing, conquering, and ultimately settling vast stretches of Europe. Martin Arnold provides a lively and accessible account of this early medieval period that became known as the Viking Age. Drawing on rich literary and archaeological source material, he first focuses on Viking culture, religious beliefs, and battle tactics and weaponry. He then ranges over the four main theatres of Viking activity-the British Isles, Western Europe, the Slavic regions, and the North Atlantic. Arnold vividly illustrates the two faces of the Vikings: on the one hand, savage, greedy and implacable; on the other, adventurous, innovative, and artistic.