Viking Weapons & Warfare

Not a bad effort. Some aspects are quite good but there are flaws (most notably in the section on bows). These I noticed due to an interest so I therefore dubious of the quality of other information provided by the primary author.Still it gives a general view although strongly biased towards DA re-enactment in the UK, which is to be expected. It fails to address more recent advances in re-enactment historical combat and instead gives a general view of standard combat with no real genuine insights into the use. This is unfortunately particularly notable in the use of the shield where the reconstruction section give patently false information where the first part of the chapter was superlative. If this book has stuck to such at the first part of the shield chapter, it would have been a great work, but instead it is flawed.All in all it is certainly better than buying an Osprey book, but be wary of inaccuracies that need to be cross-referenced which is not a bad habit for a re-enactor to get into anway.

This book was very disappointing. It seems to be largely paraphrased from old history volumes from Stenton or Strutt but with little insight, and no reference to modern thinking. I liken this to a GCSE level essay where a student has not had access to primary sources, or solid academic papers and largely uses conjecture and anecdote to attempt to substantiate the limited reference to evidence. I would not expect a book like this to be published.Instead readers, see Anglo-Saxon Weapons and Warfare by Richard Underwood, Battles of the Dark Ages by Peter Marren or Viking Weapons and Combat Techniques by William Short

This is an idiosyncratic view of viking warfare from a re-enactor who started when there was much less information around but has tried to provide an updated version of these mythical warriors. It tries to have a jovial folksy style but that extends to odd anachronistic suggestions such as boat crew should wear old shoes because they get wet often ?!Constant odd asides appear. It encompasses a wide range of material but none in referenced detail. The line drawings are variable in quality and the pictures are of reenactors rather than original items. This book is a subjective account of how one re-enactment society interprets history and archaeology rather than an account of evidence for viking weapons and warfare.

got this for my bro bithday he is into viking reinactment and go's all over the uk. he is training to be a black smith and when he has time he makes bits and bobs using this book for help. its got a lot of info and is always to hand