The Vikings A Very Short Introduction

Author : J. D. Richards
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0192806076
Total Pages : 169 pages
Book Rating : 4.79/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Vikings written by J. D. Richards and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2005-09-08 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Highlighting the latest archaeological evidence, Julian Richards reveals the whole Viking world: their history, society and culture, and their expansion overseas for trade, colonization, and plunder.

Author : Julian D. Richards
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 019157807X
Total Pages : 169 pages
Book Rating : 4.76/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Vikings: A Very Short Introduction written by Julian D. Richards and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2005-09-08 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Viking reputation is of bloodthirsty seafaring warriors, repeatedly plundering the British Isles and the North Atlantic throughout the early Middle Ages. Yet Vikings were also traders, settlers, and farmers, with a complex artistic and linguistic culture, whose expansion overseas led them to cross the Atlantic for the first time in European history. Highlighting the latest archaeological evidence, Julian Richards reveals the whole Viking world: their history, society and culture, and their expansion overseas for trade, colonization, and plunder. We also look at the Viking identity, through their artistic expression, rune stones, their ships, and their religion. The Viking story is also brought up to date, by examining their legacy from the medieval Icelandic sagas to 19th Century nationalism, Wagner, and the Nazis. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Jonathan Clements
Publisher : Robinson
ISBN 13 : 1472107756
Total Pages : 160 pages
Book Rating : 4.56/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Brief History of the Vikings written by Jonathan Clements and published by Robinson. This book was released on 2013-02-07 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'From the Fury of the Northmen deliver us, O Lord.' Between the eighth and eleventh centuries, the Vikings surged from their Scandinavian homeland to trade, raid and invade along the coasts of Europe. Their influence and expeditions extended from Newfoundland to Baghdad, their battles were as far-flung as Africa and the Arctic. But were they great seafarers or desperate outcasts, noble heathens or oafish pirates, the last pagans or the first of the modern Europeans? This concise study puts medieval chronicles, Norse sagas and Muslim accounts alongside more recent research into ritual magic, genetic profiling and climatology. It includes biographical sketches of some of the most famous Vikings, from Erik Bloodaxe to Saint Olaf, and King Canute to Leif the Lucky. It explains why the Danish king Harald Bluetooth lent his name to a twenty-first century wireless technology; which future saint laughed as she buried foreign ambassadors alive; why so many Icelandic settlers had Irish names; and how the last Viking colony was destroyed by English raiders. Extending beyond the traditional 'Viking age' of most books, A Brief History of the Vikings places sudden Scandinavian population movement in a wider historical context. It presents a balanced appraisal of these infamous sea kings, explaining both their swift expansion and its supposed halt. Supposed because, ultimately, the Vikings didn't disappear: they turned into us.

Author : Donald A. Ritchie
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199746214
Total Pages : 170 pages
Book Rating : 4.17/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction written by Donald A. Ritchie and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-07-06 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many scholars believe that the framers of the Constitution intended Congress to be the preeminent branch of government. Indeed, no other legislature in the world approaches its power. Yet most Americans have only a murky idea of how it works. In The U.S. Congress, Donald A. Ritchie, a congressional historian for more than thirty years, takes readers on a fascinating, behind-the-scenes tour of Capitol Hill--pointing out the key players, explaining their behavior, and translating parliamentary language into plain English. No mere civics lesson, this eye-opening book provides an insider's perspective on Congress, matched with a professional historian's analytical insight. After a swift survey of the creation of Congress by the constitutional convention, he begins to unscrew the nuts and pull out the bolts. What is it like to campaign for congress? To attract large donors? To enter either house with no seniority? He answers these questions and more, explaining committee assignments (and committee work), the role of staffers and lobbyists, floor proceedings, parliamentary rules, and coalition building. Ritchie explores the great effort put into constituent service--as representatives and senators respond to requests from groups and individuals--as well as media relations and news coverage. He also explores how the grand concepts we all know from civics class--checks and balances, advise and consent, congressional oversight--work in practice, in an age of strong presidents and a muscular Senate minority (no matter which party is in that position). In this sparkling addition to Oxford's Very Short Introduction series, Donald Ritchie moves beyond the cynicism and the platitudes to provide a gem of a portrait of how Congress really works.

Author : Angelo Forte
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521829922
Total Pages : 474 pages
Book Rating : 4.25/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Viking Empires written by Angelo Forte and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-05-05 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Viking Empires, first published in 2005, is a definitive global history of the Viking World.

Author : Stewart Angas Weaver
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0199946957
Total Pages : 152 pages
Book Rating : 4.52/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Exploration written by Stewart Angas Weaver and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This clear, succinct, and elegant contribution to the 'Very Short Introductions' series surveys the history of global exploration and assesses the motives, for good and ill, of those who undertook it. Stewart Weaver traces the history of exploration from the first explorers (including Polynesian and Micronesian peoples, the ancient Greeks, Marco Polo, and Ibn BattÐta), to the European discover of America, the Enlightenment and exploration (focusing on James Cook), and the race to the north and south poles

Author : Christopher Smith
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191665010
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4.11/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Etruscans: A Very Short Introduction written by Christopher Smith and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2014-05-29 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From around 900 to 400 BC, the Etruscans were the most innovative, powerful, wealthy, and creative people in Italy. Their archaeological record is both substantial and fascinating, including tomb paintings, sculpture, jewellery, and art. In this Very Short Introduction, Christopher Smith explores Etruscan history, culture, language, and customs. Examining the controversial debates about their origins, he explores how they once lived, placing this within the geographical, economic, and political context of the time. Smith concludes by demonstrating how the Etruscans have been studied and perceived throughout the ages, and the impact this has had on our understanding of their place in history. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Judson Roberts
Publisher : Judson Roberts
ISBN 13 : 0578076438
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.30/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Viking Warrior written by Judson Roberts and published by Judson Roberts. This book was released on 2011-03 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He's the son of a chieftain and a princess--yet Halfdan was born a slave. Now he is becoming a man and it is time for him to meet his destiny. Though raised a slave who could only dream of freedom, young Halfdan's fate may be about to change. If freed, he may train as a Viking warrior, and come to know the glories of true brotherhood and the horrors of unspeakable evil. In the world of Vikings, a warrior's destiny is forged in the heat of battle. If the fates decree it, Hafdan may emerge as a new hero . . . a new myth . . . and perhaps a new legend.

Author : John Krebs
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191637009
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4.01/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Food: A Very Short Introduction written by John Krebs and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-09-26 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this Very Short Introduction, Prof Lord John Krebs provides a brief history of human food, from our remote ancestors 3 million years ago to the present day. By looking at the four great transitions in human food - cooking, agriculture, processing, and preservation - he considers a variety of questions, including why people like some kinds of foods and not others; how your senses contribute to flavour; the role of genetics in our likes and dislikes; and the differences in learning and culture around the world. In turn he considers aspects of diet, nutrition, and health, and the disparity between malnutrition in some places and overconsumption in others. Finally, he considers some of the big issues - the obesity crisis, sustainable agriculture, the role of new technologies such as genetic modification of crops, and ends by posing the question: how will it be possible to feed a population of 9 billion in 2050, without destroying our natural environment? ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : David Ford
Publisher : Oxford Paperbacks
ISBN 13 : 0191606421
Total Pages : 234 pages
Book Rating : 4.27/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Theology: A Very Short Introduction written by David Ford and published by Oxford Paperbacks. This book was released on 1999-03-25 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Very Short Introduction provides both believers and non-believers with a balanced survey of the central questions of contemporary theology. David Ford's interrogative approach draws the reader into considering the principles underlying religious belief, including the centrality of salvation to most major religions, the concept of God in ancient, modern, and postmodern contexts, the challenge posed to theology by prayer and worship, and the issue of sin and evil. He also proves the nature of experience, knowledge, and wisdom in theology, and discusses what is involved in interpreting theological texts today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.