Viking warriors were feared by their contemporaries and their ferocious
reputation has survived down to the present day. This book covers the
military history of the Vikings from their early raiding to the final
failure of their expansionist ambitions directed against England. In
that period Viking warbands and increasingly large armies had left their
Scandinavian homelands to range across vast regions, including the whole
of Northern Europe and beyond, even reaching North America. The British
Isles were terrorized for two centuries and at times largely conquered,
in Normandy, Russia and elsewhere they also settled and founded states.
Tough, skilled and resourceful, with a culture that embraced the pursuit
of immortal fame and a heroic death in battle, their renown as warriors
was second to none. As far afield as Constantinople, the Byzantine
emperors employed them as their elite Varangian Guard.
Gabriele Esposito outlines the history of their campaigns and battles
and examines in detail their strategy, tactics, weapons, armour and
clothing. The subject is brought to life by dozens of color photographs
of replica equipment in use.