Viking: The Norse Warrior's (Unofficial) Manual

Describes how to attain fame, wealth and glory as 10th century Viking, including how to act at a feast, how to choose the proper weapons and the best armor and how to plunder and pillage.
This is a somewhat whimsical but at the same time highly informative primer on the many facets of life as a Norse Viking in the 10th century. The book presents its material literally as an extended job-brochure, providing a survey of "Viking life" in details proper to any conventionally scholarly treatment. These includes the origins of the Vikings, political economy in the lands and seas where they lived, the anatomy of a raid and what made certain places more vulnerable than others, the mythology and technology of battle, great warriors to know and remember, the Viking's advanced seamanship and ship-building, kinship structures, mythology, death and more. Two colorful sections of plates of life-sized replicas and re-enactors appear along with dozens of black and white stock photos embedded alongside text. The text remains "in character" as a job-brochure from beginning to end. John Haywood is a research fellow at University of Lancaster and a widely published scholar of medieval history. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Combines the latest research and discoveries with a humorous eye to take us inside the Viking world