Viking longships evolved from one-man canoes of
the Scandinavian Stone Age, through wood-built-ships of c. 200 BC into
the recognisable longboats of the 4th century AD. From this point, the
Viking Longship developed into the pre-eminent raider and trader in the
North Sea and Baltic, venturing as far afield as the Mediterranean,
North Atlantic and modern-day Russia. Keith Durham uses
reconstructions, original sources, translations and archaeological
evidence to render a vivid picture of the vessels that dominated the
seaways of Scandinavia, founded colonies on Iceland, Greenland and the
New World and terrorised the coastlines of northern Europe. Also
covered are Norman vessels, including the invasion fleet of William the
Conqueror.
