Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793-1241
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1956
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://us.macmillan.com/northmen/johnhaywood/9781250106148/ * http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/book-review-northmen/
RESEARCHER NOTES: N/A
PERSONAL
Born 1956.
EDUCATION:Attended Lancaster University, Cambridge University, and the University of Copenhagen.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, historian.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
John Haywood is an expert on the history of Dark Age Europe. Educated at Cambridge University, he is the author of numerous books, including World Atlas of the Past, Encyclopaedia of the Viking Age, Atlas of the Celtic World, The New Atlas of World History: Global Events at a Glance, and Northmen: The Viking Saga, AD 793-1241.
World Atlas of the Past is a four-volume reference work intended for high school students, offering an overview of human history spanning twelve millennia. The first volume examines history from 10,000 BCE to 1 CE; the second volume takes the story forward through the medieval world to to 1492 and European exploration; the third volume ends with the defeat of Napoleon in 1815; and the final volume ends at 1998. Each volume has thirteen short chapters on significant events and eras, such as ancient Greece, colonial America, and the two world wars of the twentieth century. These chapters include text, maps, time lines, and illustrations. “Younger students will find these volumes are a good starting point for research,” noted a Booklist contributor. Also writing in Booklist, Ilene Cooper felt that these volumes “will be helpful to students who need historical overviews comparing major civilizations during specific time periods.”
In Encyclopaedia of the Viking Age, Haywood goes beyond the warrior caricature of the Vikings to present their full story, both at peace and at war. The book offers four hundred heavily illustrated articles on aspects of the Viking world and society, including history, laws, customs, industry, arts, literature, myths, religion, and folklore. Haywood shows the Vikings not just in battle but also in their everyday world, demonstrating how they dressed, raised their children, constructed their homes, and buried their dead. Further entries deal with their shipbuilding prowess, a skill that allowed them to sail across the Atlantic Ocean and also to establish distant trade routes to Baghdad and Constantinople. Haywood additionally provides ample biographies of notable Vikings and of those who interacted with them. The author also provides numerous maps of Viking settlements. An introductory essay grounds the reader in the history of the Vikings, while end matter includes a chronology. A Booklist reviewer had praise for this work, noting: “Haywood’s attractive encyclopedia on the Vikings is that rarity–a satisfying reference source done right. The book is modestly sized and priced but packed with information.” The reviewer further observed that Haywood is a “master of his subject” and that his “prose is ample, at times challenging, but never pedantic.”
Atlas of the Celtic World
In Atlas of the Celtic World, Haywood gathers fifty-four maps that cover three millennia of Celtic history across Europe, from their Bronze Age origins to their diaspora in the modern world. He divides the work into maps dealing with what are known as the Continental Celts (those in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Anatolia), Atlantic Celts (Britain and Ireland), and Modern Celts and Celtic culture in the contemporary world. Haywood also provides an extensive chronology and bibliography for further research.
Writing in Library Journal, Edward K. Werner noted of Atlas of the Celtic World: “This handsome and informative resource is recommended for public libraries.” Similarly, Booklist writer Ray Olson commented: “Well written, edited, and produced, this is just the book for a Celtophile to wile away the hours and the pints with.”
The New Atlas of World History
Haywood provides a further overview of history in The New Atlas of World History, published in 2011 by Princeton University Press. The book is intended as a quick reference to world history, offering the information in a series of uniform world maps that allow the reader to make instant comparisons not only between regions but also between periods. The fifty-five full-color maps cover the entirety of human history, beginning six million years ago. Detailed time lines accompany most of the maps, and key data points are also highlighted. Haywood additionally includes a glossary of cultures, peoples, and nations.
Reviewing The New Atlas of World History in Library Journal, Jim Langan felt it “presents a valuable picture of human development and will be useful to academic and public libraries.” Further praise came from Booklist writer Brian Odom, who called it a “superior resource whose approach readily lends itself to global comparisons and whose uniform layout makes it a fantastic ‘quick reference’ for classroom use.” Similarly, Geographical reviewer Mick Herron observed: “As a global account of historical forces, it’s invaluable; the timelines, in particular, allow for an immediate grasp of the synchronicity of historical events.” Likewise, a Contemporary Review critic noted, “This is a brave venture in compressing a great deal into a relatively small volume.”
Northmen
In his 2016 study Northmen, Haywood surveys a history of over four centuries of Viking history, beginning with their origins and examining their spread to England, France, Scotland, Ireland, the Mediterranean, and Eastern Europe. Haywood also looks at the Norse in the North Atlantic from 835 to 1000; the second Viking age in England, from 978 to 1085; the Scandinavian kingdoms to 1100; the Vikings as crusaders; and the Viking twilight, when the tide turned against the Vikings and their territories had become part of Latin Christendom. Haywood also gives a list of Viking kings and rulers from 800 to 1100 and numerous maps to indicate Viking movements and settlements.
Reviewing Northmen in Library Journal, Lyndsie Robinson termed it a “well-researched and thoroughly captivating work” as well as an “expansive view of the Viking Era and peoples who continue to capture the collective imagination.” Booklist reviewer Olson also had praise, calling Northmen “the Viking history for our time.” A Publishers Weekly contributor was also impressed, terming it an “ambitious, sprawling study” and further noting: “As a work of sociopolitical history, this is a solid, slow-paced affair jammed full of names, places, and dates.” Similarly, a Kirkus Reviews critic observed: “Haywood authoritatively explores it all in a densely informative narrative.” Online Open Letters Monthly writer Steve Donoghue likewise concluded: “The Vikings and the era they epitomized of course haven’t lacked for recent histories, but Northmen is the best to appear in many seasons, involvingly written but also sharp-eyed in weighing its source material, and especially rewarding in taking a broader view of the whole Viking phenomenon, not just the battle axes and longboats but the farming colonies and trading consortiums. Readers interested in a learned and well-written overview of that phenomenon can’t do better in 2016 than this.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, December 1, 1999, review of World Atlas of the Past, p. 728; December 15, 1999, Ilene Cooper, review of World Atlas of the Past, p. 775; October 15, 2000, review of Encyclopaedia of the Viking Age, p. 478; November 15, 2001, Ray Olson, review of Atlas of the Celtic World, p. 544; March 15, 2012, Brian Odom, review of The New Atlas of World History: Global Events at a Glance, p. 30; August 1, 2016, Ray Olson, review of Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793-1241 AD, p. 22.
Contemporary Review, June, 2012, review of The New Atlas of World History, p. 257.
Geographical, November, 2011, Mick Herron, review of The New Atlas of World History, p. 68.
Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2016, review of Northmen.
Library Journal, November 1, 2001, Edward K. Werner, review of Atlas of the Celtic World, p. 82; October 15, 2011, Jim Langan, review of The New Atlas of World History, p. 104; August 1, 2016, Lyndsie Robinson, review of Northmen, p. 107.
Military History, May, 2013, review of Viking: The Norse Warrior’s (Unofficial) Manual, p. 72.
Publishers Weekly, March 25, 2013, review of Viking, p. 53; July 11, 2016, review of Northmen, p. 57.
ONLINE
Macmillan Web site, http://us.macmillan.com/ (February 22, 2017), author profile.
Open Letters Monthly, http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/ (October 3, 2016), Steve Donoghue, review of Northmen.
Dr. John Haywood is a Cambridge-educated expert on the history of Dark Age Europe. His is also the author of The New Atlas of World History, The Penguin Atlas of the Vikings, and Great Migrations.
QUOTE:
Delivering a well-researched and thoroughly captivating work, Haywood gives
readers an expansive view of the Viking Era and peoples who continue to capture the collective imagination.
Haywood, John. Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793-1241
Lyndsie Robinson
Library Journal.
141.13 (Aug. 1, 2016): p107.
COPYRIGHT 2016 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
* Haywood, John. Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793-1241. St. Martin's. Sept. 2016.400p. illus. maps, index. ISBN 9781250106148. $29.99; ebk.
ISBN 9781250106155. HIST
In his ambitious new book, Haywood, an expert on the Dark Ages in Europe, (The New Atlas of World History, The Penguin Historical Atlas of
the Vikings) attempts to provide broader geographical and historical context for the Vikings. The Norsemen were distinct in that no other early
Europeans interacted and expanded their territory as early in history as they did, despite not being the most technologically advanced Europeans
at the time. The author asserts that the Viking Era extends beyond the conventional period of 790-1066 CE, beginning earlier and culminating
around 1240 when Viking seafaring and conquest began its inevitable decline. Haywood delves briefly into the Norse mythology that drove them,
and covers a full chronology of Norse conquest, which has left a lasting impact on Europe, Asia, and North America. This meticulously
researched book includes extensive maps, a full chronology, a comprehensive list of Viking kings and rulers, and resources for further reading
and research including primary-source materials. VERDICT Delivering a well-researched and thoroughly captivating work, Haywood gives
readers an expansive view of the Viking Era and peoples who continue to capture the collective imagination.--Lyndsie Robinson, Milne Lib.,
SUNY Oneonta
Robinson, Lyndsie
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Robinson, Lyndsie. "Haywood, John. Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793-1241." Library Journal, 1 Aug. 2016, p. 107. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA459805081&it=r&asid=ccc4cf64ed2f20ee40f93df9f8d87aa3. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
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Gale Document Number: GALE|A459805081
---
QUOTE:
the Viking history for our time
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Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793-1241 AD
Ray Olson
Booklist.
112.22 (Aug. 1, 2016): p22.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793-1241 AD. By John Haywood. Sept. 2016.400p. illus. St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne, $29.99 (9781250106148).
948.022.
Haywood's subtitle is sobering, indicating as it does that the astonishing violence of Europe's northernmost peoples spanned four-and-a-half
centuries. Haywood proceeds chronologically overall while switching sectional focus from England to France to Scotland and so forth, backing
up in time as needed. In western Europe, Norwegian and Danish Vikings were pirates with plenty of coast to raid, plundering, killing, and taking
captives to sell as slaves. In the east, Swedes sailed up the rivers of Russia and down those flowing into the Black and Caspian seas; trade figured
sooner and more extensively in their depredations. Both western and eastern Vikings settled and cooperated as they raided, and the national
agglomeration and centralization of those they attacked they gradually developed back home. Toward the end of their era, having adopted
Christianity, they participated in crusades in both the Holy Land and their own precincts. Although Haywood doesn't seem to know the word
whom, and the reader boggles at all the Erics, Sveins, and Olafs, Northmen is probably the Viking history for our time.--Ray Olson
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Olson, Ray. "Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793-1241 AD." Booklist, 1 Aug. 2016, p. 22. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA460761612&it=r&asid=6547f0f1f21d380154b97d3bf7c8a7b9. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A460761612
---
QUOTE:
ambitious, sprawling study
As a work of sociopolitical history, this is a solid, slow-paced affair jammed full of names,
places, and dates.
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Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793-1241
Publishers Weekly.
263.28 (July 11, 2016): p57.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793-1241
John Haywood. St. Martin's/Dunne, $29.99 (400p) ISBN 978-1-250-10614-8
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
In this ambitious, sprawling study, Haywood (Viking: The Norse Warrior's {Unofficial} Manual), who has written extensively on medieval
Europe, manages to construct a definitive, if not always accessible, history of Viking civilization. He reaches into the dim past to study their
creation myths and lore before embarking on a historical journey that covers nearly five centuries and spans several continents. The result is a
dense, information-heavy work that digs deep into what made Viking culture tick. "The Vikings were an unprecedented phenomenon in European
history, not for any technological, military or cultural innovation that they contributed to ... but for the vast expanse of their horizons," Haywood
writes by way of introduction. And so he carefully and thoroughly examines their spread through Europe, into Asia, and across the seas to see
how they affected the world, and how they evolved from a pagan culture into a Christian one--a development that spelled the end of the Vikings
and the birth of a slightly more sedate Scandinavia. As a work of sociopolitical history, this is a solid, slow-paced affair jammed full of names,
places, and dates. Its value is thus as an academic resource, a historian or researcher's best friend, and it will be less useful for the casual reader
looking for some easy answers. Maps & photo insert. (Sept.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Northmen: The Viking Saga, 793-1241." Publishers Weekly, 11 July 2016, p. 57. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA458915369&it=r&asid=7dfba591678d804bf63c65d34b02b487. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A458915369
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QUOTE:
it presents a valuable picture of human development and will be useful to academic and
public libraries,
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Haywood, John. The New Atlas of World History: Global
Events at a Glance
Jim Langan
Library Journal.
136.17 (Oct. 15, 2011): p104.
COPYRIGHT 2011 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Haywood, John. The New Atlas of World History: Global Events at a Glance. Princeton Univ. Dec. 2011. 252p. illus, maps. index. ISBN
9780691152691. $49.50. REF
The 55 world maps and corresponding time lines in Haywood's (honorary research fellow, history, Lancaster Univ.; Great Migrations) oversized
reference work chronicle history from prehistoric times (read: the Ice Age and Paleolithic humans) to 2010 C.E. Each map and time line has a
brief summation describing notable global events occurring around the map's title year. In addition to showing changing national boundaries, the
full-spread color maps display population type (e.g., hunter/gatherer, industrial), the population of the era's five largest cities, historic trade routes,
and other human interactions. The two-page multithread time line that follows each map covers art and architecture, the sciences, religion, and
politics, revealing what was being invented then and what was occurring in divergent areas. Small photos of people, inventions, and locations
throughout the time line illustrate significant events; a graph notes the historic population. Slight overlap in time lines is initially confusing--at
first glance, the one for World War II appears to show the atomic bomb being dropped before it was invented, for example. BOTTOM LINE
Although this book does not have a great deal of depth, it presents a valuable picture of human development and will be useful to academic and
public libraries, though those owning Patrick O'Brien's Atlas of Wodd History (Oxford Univ., 2010) or Hermann Kinder and Werner Hilgemann's
The Penguin Atlas of World History (2003) might not see the need.--Jim Langan, Univ. of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
Langan, Jim
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Langan, Jim. "Haywood, John. The New Atlas of World History: Global Events at a Glance." Library Journal, 15 Oct. 2011, p. 104. General
OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA269338741&it=r&asid=6ed7ed00cbb956d8a91c6e043638c9da. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A269338741
---
QUOTE:
Haywood's attractive encyclopedia on the Vikings is that rarity--a satisfying reference source done right. The book is modestly sized and priced
but packed with information
master of his subject. His prose is ample, at times challenging, but never pedantic.
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Encyclopaedia of the Viking Age
Booklist.
97.4 (Oct. 15, 2000): p478.
COPYRIGHT 2000 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Encyclopaedia of the Viking Age. By John Haywood. 2000. 224p. bibliog. illus. Thames and Hudson, $34.95 (0-500-01982-7). 948.02203.
Haywood's attractive encyclopedia on the Vikings is that rarity--a satisfying reference source done right. The book is modestly sized and priced
but packed with information. From the preface and introduction to the source list at the back, Haywood, who also wrote The Penguin Historical
Atlas of the Vikings (1995), is a master of his subject. His prose is ample, at times challenging, but never pedantic. He anticipates the needs of the
student, historian, teacher, librarian, traveler, and researcher with three superb gray-and-white maps of voyages, ports, and boundaries minus
fussy cartographic extras that get in the way. A handy addition is a prefatory subject list offering such enticing topics as Dwarves, Khazars, Ladby
ship burial, Midgard Serpent, and Slave trade. At back, the reader finds more useful study aids: a two-page historical chronology and three pages
of Viking kings and rulers spanning the years 700 to 1100.
The body of the encyclopedia assigns more than a third of each page to crisp, captioned black-and-white photographs and drawings. These
illustrations span the top of each page and connect solidly to topics below. For example, an aerial photo showing the layout of a ninth-century
ring-fort in the center of the modern Dutch village of Oost-Souburg complements the entry Ring-forts, Frankish; and a sketch of the Kanhave
showing how engineers separated water and land accompanies the entry for this major eighth-century Danish engineering project.
Unlike volumes that focus on Viking he-men, Haywood surveys all of Scandinavian life from the period, offering two intricate line drawings of
an upright loom; entries on Jewelry, Life expectancy, and Weights and measures; and details concerning courtship, marriage, children, and
divorce. Dotting each topic are cross-references in small caps that entice the reader to go beyond succinct data to a full understanding of the bold,
inventive Vikings. Rich details on ship settings, road building, and Offa's dyke stress the geographic remains of their civilization. Balancing
temporal exploits are the lasting intellectual and artistic monuments--rune-edged steles, filigreed carvings, bronze artifacts, illuminated
documents, laws, and the wealth of sagas, riddles, and skaldic verse that set Scandinavia apart from the more genteel Europeans to the south and
west.
In terms of size, layout, cost, and ease of use, Haywood's encyclopedia is a worthy challenger to Peter Sawyer's The Age of Vikings (St. Martin's,
1962) and The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings (1997). Its one weakness is limited access to subtopics. Alphabetized cross-references
are scanty. Without a back index, the book deprives the user of quick retrieval of details on such minor figures as Freydis, the female voyager of
the Eriksson family; and Snorri, child of Gudrid and Thorfinn Karlsefni and the first European born in the Americas. This concern aside, the
volume should prove useful in public and academic libraries.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
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"Encyclopaedia of the Viking Age." Booklist, 15 Oct. 2000, p. 478. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA67186178&it=r&asid=d7c358d216e3135cef72930784bb4af9. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A67186178
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QUOTE:
superior resource whose approach readily lends itself to global comparisons and whose uniform layout makes it a
fantastic "quick reference" for classroom use
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The New Atlas of World History: Global Events at a Glance
Brian Odom
Booklist.
108.14 (Mar. 15, 2012): p30.
COPYRIGHT 2012 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
* The New Atlas of World History: Global Events at a Glance.
By John Haywood.
2011. 252p. illus. Princeton, $49.50 (9780691152691). 911.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
This excellent resource is designed to provide users with a general overview of world history that avoids the "compartmentalization" of the world
into distinctive regions and instead focuses on presenting a "universal" view of mankind's movement from hunter-gatherer societies to the present
age. Comprised of 55 richly detailed maps alternating with 48 dynamic, richly illustrated time lines, Haywood's handy volume offers students a
new way of exploring the ever-expanding field of world history.
Following an introduction that considers methodology and utility, the work quickly gets down to business, with maps showing the prehistoric
demographics and evolutionary developments, then on to such topics as religious distributions, increasing contacts through trade, and a modern
world characterized by globalization and a shifting balance of power. Each vibrantly colored map is prefaced by a brief synopsis of world events
and contains a neat graph of the five largest cities of that year. Other examples of maps include "The Spread of the World's Writing Systems to
1492" and "The World at the Height of the Cold War (1975)." The alternating time lines for each map also feature a brief preface, a chart for
approximate world populations, and tabs for "Arts and Architecture," "Science and Technology," "Religion and Philosophy," and "Politics and
Economy." The atlas concludes with a 15-page glossary and a useful bibliography categorized by region.
Although those looking for a work containing more historical analysis may prefer Patrick O'Brien's Atlas of World History (2010), here Haywood
has provided students with a superior resource whose approach readily lends itself to global comparisons and whose uniform layout makes it a
fantastic "quick reference" for classroom use. Highly recommended for all middle-school, high-schools, and public libraries.--Brian Odom
YA/C: This richly illustrated atlas is a solid choice for middle-school and high-school libraries. BOd.
Odom, Brian
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Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Odom, Brian. "The New Atlas of World History: Global Events at a Glance." Booklist, 15 Mar. 2012, p. 30. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA284551766&it=r&asid=e7b1e075591ad59377f578f1cf0eb4f4. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A284551766
---
QUOTE:
This handsome and
informative resource is recommended for public libraries
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Atlas of the Celtic World. (Reference)
Edward K. Werner
Library Journal.
126.18 (Nov. 1, 2001): p82.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Haywood, John. Atlas of the Celtic World. Thames & Hudson, dist. by Norton. Nov. 2001. c.144p. illus. maps. bibliog. ISBN 0-500-05109-7.
$34.95. REF
Haywood, a research fellow in history at the University of Lancaster and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain, has authored a
number of historical reference resources, most recently the Encyclopedia of the Viking Age. His new book is a historical, cultural, and linguistic
survey of the Celtic peoples from prehistoric times to the modern era, presented in a series of 54 full-color maps with accompanying text and 160
illustrations. This approach is welcome, as recent historical atlases (e.g., Atlas of World History, Oxford Univ., 1999) have treated the Celts as
peripheral to the classical civilizations and the evolution of the modern nation-states. The Times Atlas of European History (1994) provided some
focus on the development of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland but is out of print. The atlas is divided into three parts: "The Continental Celts"
(including the Urnfield, Hallstatt, and La Tene cultures and the Gauls of Brittainy), "The Atlantic Celts" (covering the Britons and the evolution
of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales), and "The Modern Celts" (covering the 18th to 20th centuries and the Celtic diaspora and revival). The maps
range from a world view of the Celtic diaspora to Europe in general to European regions appropriate to the topic. An extensive chronology lists
significant events in Celtic history from ca. 1200 B.C.E. to the 1999 opening of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. Interestingly,
although the chronology includes the only direct reference to the 1296-1328 Scottish Wars of Independence from England, there is no mention of
William Wallace. The select bibliography features recent English-language publications intended for the general reader. This handsome and
informative resource is recommended for public libraries.--Edward K. Werner, St. Lucie Cty. Lib. Syst., Ft. Pierce, FL
Werner, Edward K.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Werner, Edward K. "Atlas of the Celtic World. (Reference)." Library Journal, 1 Nov. 2001, p. 82+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA80606786&it=r&asid=7070b9fc30dae6c84c6b1ea0d7ad2a19. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A80606786
---
QUOTE:
s a global account of historical forces, it's invaluable; the timelines, in particular, allow for an immediate grasp of the synchronicity of
historical events.
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The New Atlas of World History: Global Events at a Glance
Mick Herron
Geographical.
83.11 (Nov. 2011): p68.
COPYRIGHT 2011 Circle Publishing Ltd.
http://www.geographical.co.uk/
Full Text:
THE NEW ATLAS OF WORLD HISTORY:
Global Events at a Glance
by John Haywood
THAMES & HUDSON, HB, 32[pounds sterling]
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Thames & Hudson's attractive new publication follows a rigid format. Its pages alternate between world maps revealing geopolitical change and
population growth through the centuries, and timelines pinpointing major events in art, science, religion and politics. All this sits alongside
capsule histories that provide an overview in prose.
It's bullet-point stuff, obviously, and for an in-depth discussion of the political or artistic developments at work, you will need to go elsewhere.
But as a global account of historical forces, it's invaluable; the timelines, in particular, allow for an immediate grasp of the synchronicity of
historical events.
Knowing that the first successful repeating rifle was developed in the USA the year before the Civil War erupted there makes for an eerie
understanding of the way the science of war marches hand in hand with political reality, tempting the reader to see causality at work. And it's fun
matching up unlikely contemporaries: that Charlie Chaplin began making films at the same time as Marcel Proust embarked on A la recherche du
temps perdu, for example.
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A recurring illustration that charts the growth and decline of the world's major cities is also entertaining reading. London makes its first
appearance in the top five in 1650, and by 1824, it's the world's largest (population 1,379,000). But it then fades away during the 1960s, with
Tokyo and New York in the ascendant, when having a mere eight million inhabitants no longer makes the grade.
Haywood's atlas is a handy reference work that illustrates clearly history happening at the same time.
Herron, Mick
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Herron, Mick. "The New Atlas of World History: Global Events at a Glance." Geographical, Nov. 2011, p. 68. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA274519663&it=r&asid=bf68c3a4f65d2041f6622c8ec400a304. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A274519663
---
QUOTE:
Younger students will find these volumes are a good starting point for research.
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World Atlas of the Past
Booklist.
96.7 (Dec. 1, 1999): p728.
COPYRIGHT 1999 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
World Atlas of the Past. 4v. By John Haywood. 1999.256p. bibliog. glossary, illus, indexes, maps. Oxford, $100 (0-19-521443-9). DDC: 909.
This atlas, intended for students from the upper-elementary through high-school levels, provides an overview of human history from the
emergence of humans by 10,000 B.C. through the end of the twentieth century A.D. Volume one covers the earliest period; volume two covers the
years 1 through 1492; volume three ends with the year 1815; and volume four extends coverage to 1998. Each volume has 13 four-page chapters
(e.g., "Ancient Greece," "Colonial North America," "Asia Since 1945") composed of maps, text, time lines, and illustrations. There are three
types of maps provided: "World Maps," showing the world at a particular moment in time; "Regional Maps," showing the history of a particular
area at that particular time; and "Supplementary Maps," expanding upon a regional map by illustrating a particular event. Varied typeface and
color codes provide additional information on a map, such as modern borders or geographic features. The contents cover all cultures, including
the Americas, Asia, and Africa.
Text describes the highlights of each civilization or historical period. The maps are easy to use, with keys explaining their presentation. There is a
glossary of terms for each volume and a bibliography. Indexing is unique to each volume rather than comprehensive. The full-color illustrations
add to the visual appeal of the set.
Younger students will find these volumes are a good starting point for research. Students at the upper range of the targeted audience will be better
served by The Complete Atlas of World History [RBB Ap 1 98] or The Times Atlas 0f World History [RBB My 15 94].
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"World Atlas of the Past." Booklist, 1 Dec. 1999, p. 728. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA58361643&it=r&asid=1c7c22517083aba4cd695792da02ea1d. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A58361643
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Viking: The Norse Warrior's (Unofficial) Manual
Publishers Weekly.
260.12 (Mar. 25, 2013): p53.
COPYRIGHT 2013 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Viking: The Norse Warrior's (Unofficial) Manual
John Haywood. Thames & Hudson, $19.95 (208p) ISBN 978-0-500-25194-2
Haywood's newest (after Chronicles of the Ancient World) is a whimsical and informative how-to guide to becoming and living the life of a
fearsome Scandinavian raider. The year is 991 C.E., and the glory of Olaf Tryggvason's victory at the battle of Maldon in England this past
summer has you, the reader, interested in becoming a Viking. If you are healthy and can handle a weapon, regardless of your class (save slaves),
there is some chance that you'll be chosen to join a ship captain on his raids; women need not apply. Haywood offers latent marauders advice on
everything from weapons to life onboard a longship and on campaign. Battle tips are to be expected, but surveys of countries just itching to be
raided, types of treasure, and historical asides on cultures contemporaneous with the Vikings are added bonuses. The author describes potential
battle wounds and field treatment options (or the lack of same) in graphic detail, but for the most part he avoids rape and torture. Text and
captions can be repetitious, and although there is a glossary, there's no pronunciation guide--good luck with "hird." Nevertheless, anyone hoping
to go a-Viking will find this manual to be fun and revealing. 135 illus., 29 in color. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Viking: The Norse Warrior's (Unofficial) Manual." Publishers Weekly, 25 Mar. 2013, p. 53. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA324587831&it=r&asid=a4dd0486a37c7296ec90e89fe563ead5. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A324587831
---
QUOTE:
will be helpful to students who need historical overviews
comparing major civilizations during specific time periods
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World Atlas of the Past
Ilene Cooper
Booklist.
96.8 (Dec. 15, 1999): p775.
COPYRIGHT 1999 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Haywood, John. World Atlas of the Past. 4v. 1999. index. illus. Oxford, $100 (0-19-521443-9). DDC: 909.
* The Ancient World: Earliest Times to 1 B.C. v. 1.64p.
* The Medieval World: AD 1 to 1492. v. 2.64p.
* The Age of Discovery: 1492 to 1815. v. 3.64p.
* Modern Times: 1815 to Present Day. v. 4. 64p.
Gr. 6-8. The four volumes in the World Atlas of the Past series, available only as a set, will be helpful to students who need historical overviews
comparing major civilizations during specific time periods. In Ancient World, introductory chapters highlight evolution and go on to discuss the
world of 10,000, 2,000, and 1,000 B.C. The book then focuses on ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, prehistoric Europe, Greece, Rome,
and South Asia. Medieval World encompasses the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, the Byzantine Empire, the rise of Islam, and empires in China,
Japan, Africa, and Central and South America. Discovery looks at European exploration, the emergence of the Americas, the European
Reformation and the Age of Enlightenment, the expansion of Russia, and events in China, Africa, and the Muslim world. Modern Times
examines recent world events, including the two world wars. Colorful maps and crisp photographs of artifacts are useful and attractive. Time
lines appear throughout the books. Each book has a glossary and a bibliography.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Cooper, Ilene. "World Atlas of the Past." Booklist, 15 Dec. 1999, p. 775. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA58509478&it=r&asid=b8947ddc8541f24a3a56a09023e59922. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A58509478
---
QUOTE:
Well written, edited, and produced, this is just the book for a Celtophile to wile away the hours and the pints with.
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Atlas of the Celtic World. (History)
Ray Olson
Booklist.
98.6 (Nov. 15, 2001): p544.
COPYRIGHT 2001 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Haywood, John. Atlas of the Celtic World. Nov. 2001. 144p. illus. index. Thames and Hudson; dist. by Norton, $34.95 (0-500-05109-7).
909.04916.
These maps tell the millennia-long story of a people whose most obvious living descendants are the speakers of Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Breton, and
Welsh. Language, Haywood explains, defines Celticness because, despite the many artifacts depicted beside the maps, the material record of the
Celts is relatively scanty and the historical record not much more substantial. After discussing Celtic identity, which has burgeoned so that it has
influenced the current devolution of Great Britain, Haywood presents the maps in two large sections and one small section. The big parts trace the
"Continental Celts," who ranged through central and southern Europe, and the linguistically distinguishable "Atlantic Celts," who occupied
Britain and Ireland. The continentals' section ends with Brittany's incorporation into France in 1532; the Atlantics', with the Highland clearances,
1763-1886. The short section illustrates the Celtic cultural renaissance in western Europe and the Celtic diaspora to the Americas, Australia, and
New Zealand. Well written, edited, and produced, this is just the book for a Celtophile to wile away the hours and the pints with.
Olson, Ray
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Olson, Ray. "Atlas of the Celtic World. (History)." Booklist, 15 Nov. 2001, p. 544. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA80681579&it=r&asid=41907961a7a27a9d4ce2ad23823cae90. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A80681579
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Viking
Military History.
30.1 (May 2013): p72.
COPYRIGHT 2013 World History Group, LLC
http://www.historynet.com/magazines/military_history
Full Text:
Viking, by John Haywood
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Another in British publisher Thames & Hudson's tongue-in-cheek and wonderfully informative "unofficial manuals" for those would be warriors
of an earlier time, this small but extremely well-produced volume contains a wealth of advice on such topics as "How to Behave at a Feast" and
"How to Plunder a Monastery."
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Viking." Military History, May 2013, p. 72. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA321578235&it=r&asid=5a099ec8eda177c0f0c3f463f35dbcfa. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A321578235
QUOTE:
Haywood authoritatively explores it all in a densely informative narrative.
Kirkus Reviews
7/24/2016
Nonfiction
The Viking Saga, 793-1241
Dark Ages expert Haywood (Viking: The Norse Warrior's (Unofficial) Manual, 2013, etc.) sets out to chronicle the history of the Vikings, "an unprecedented phenomenon in European history for the vast expanse of their horizons."The sagas were no doubt based on some facts, but many of the names belonged to the shadowy area between legend and history, and many of the cultures were illiterate. While the Viking Age is generally accepted to have run from the sack of Lindisfarne in 793 to the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, the author asserts that they were actively raiding in Scandinavia and the Baltic more than a century earlier. Haywood's lucid explanations of the cultures of the Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians are vital to understanding the motivations for their movements. Their shallow draft boats allowed for speed--to quickly raid or escape from defenders and move to another victim. The Vikings were generally loyal to no one and happily accepted Christianity (with no intention of forsaking their pagan ways) and fought with locals against other raiders. For the most part, they were seeking booty and had no desire to settle, though that changed with different sectors. Their influence in Ireland, England, and France was absorbed into local cultures. Only in the Faroe Islands and Iceland, where little civilization existed, did Viking heritage remain. In Scotland's northern isles, they effectively eliminated the Picts, and their influence there lasted longer than even in Scandinavia. Where the Danes sailed in sight of land to Ireland, England, Europe, and Asia, the Norwegians incorporated the use of the pole star, sea birds, ice floes, clouds, and whale migrations. Haywood authoritatively explores it all in a densely informative narrative. An encyclopedic history of Scandinavia, her raiders, and the effect they had on world cultures--not necessarily a tale to curl up with next to a fire but certainly a sturdy reference book.
Adult; 978-1-250-10614-8; $29.99; Haywood, John
Dunne/St. Martin's; 400
QUOTE:
This is a brave venture in compressing a great deal into a relatively small volume.
Contemporary Review
June 2012
The New Atlas of World History: Global Events at a Glance. John Haywood. Thames & Hudson. £32.00. 252 pages. ISBN 978-0-500-25185-0.
This unusual atlas is made up of 49 'political maps' organised chronologically. With a skilful use of maps, numerous charts and 433 illustrations (for which Thames & Hudson are so justly famous) the author presents history visually. He starts ca. 8,000 BC, the end of the last Ice Age, and carries on to 2010, seeing this period as one large trajectory in man's history, a trajectory that is often missed because of specialisation both in school and university. The aim is to show how certain changes occurred in various places, albeit in slightly different formats. To use a slang term, the book aims at giving readers 'the big picture'. If we take one example, the four pages devoted to 323 BC: across the first two is a map of the world showing the Indian civilisations in the Americas, the tribes that made up the empires of Rome and Alexander the Great, the agricultural divisions of Africa and the tribes that made up what is now China and Russia. The next two pages show time-lines for the period 500 BC to 200 BC grouped into four strands: politics and economics, religion and philosophy, science and technology, and arts and architecture. This is a brave venture in compressing a great deal into a relatively small volume. Whilst it will have its critics (sometimes the charts can be rather jumbled) it will also have many admirers.
~~~~~~~~
By D. M. L.
QUOTE:
The Vikings and the era they epitomized of course haven’t lacked for recent histories, but Northmen is the best to appear in many seasons, involvingly written but also sharp-eyed in weighing its source material, and especially rewarding in taking a broader view of the whole Viking phenomenon, not just the battle axes and longboats but the farming colonies and trading consortiums. Readers interested in a learned and well-written overview of that phenomenon can’t do better in 2016 than this.
Book Review: Northmen
By Steve Donoghue (October 3, 2016) No Comment
Northmen:norhtmen
The Viking Saga, AD 793-1241
by John Haywood
Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, 2016
Medievalist John Haywood, author of the excellent Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings, fleshes out that graphics-driven outline in his superb new book Northmen: The Viking Saga, AD 793-1241, a history not only of the successive waves of Viking raids that terrorized and transformed the Western world from Newfoundland to Jerusalem but also how those raids transformed the Vikings themselves.
Haywood’s book is heavily compartmentalized – each chapter is broken up into many shorter segments, presumably for easy, unintimidating reading – and this approach, these successive quick raids into one aspect of Viking history after another, can sometimes short-change the more complex aspects of that history in favor of the more predictable blood-and-mead topic headings. This is a straightforward commercial decision, but Haywood is such a genial, engaging explainer that he makes it work on deeper levels as well, almost always managing to avoid the pitfalls of an episodic approach. The book rather improbably makes for continuously engaging reading.
The Vikings raided and traded and explored to extents most of their contemporaries would have found mind-boggling (as our author quite rightly points out, no other group of humans in the Middle Ages were as well-traveled), and Haywood covers it all in quick, confident detail. But at the heart of all his subject headings is the central experience of what it was to be a Viking, who these men were who left their farms and risked their lives on perilous seas for the chance at lucrative sack and plunder. Haywood smoothly although a bit reductively sketches the underlying wry pessimism of the Norse mind frame:
Knowing that nothing was ever forever, not even the gods or the afterlife, gave the Viking Age Norse a fatalistic outlook and an indifference to death. The Viking warrior was expected to face death with a shrug of the shoulders and some black humour to show that he had kept his presence of mind and not given in to fear. Life was not so much to lose and if it was his fate to die, there was nothing he could do about it anyway.
But most of his history illustrates that most Vikings – particularly most Viking leaders – certainly considered their lives quite a lot to lose and acted accordingly. These were for the most part canny men – ferociously violent, yes, but also sensitive to the main chance, willing to negotiate (once they got everything they wanted, of course), interested in adapting, and sometimes even, oddly, open to peace. Haywood’s account is necessarily heavy on the raiding and plundering side of things – he detours to every burning abbey and blood-spattered farmstead – but he also stresses the complexities behind many such encounters:
Full-scale battles were relatively rare in the Viking Age. Thanks to their mobility, Viking cold generally avoid fighting if they thought the odds were unfavourable to them. However, the pay-off from victory could be very high so Vikings were not shy about fighting when it suited them … Apart from loot, and a strong hand when it came to negotiating tribute payments with the vanquished, victory in battle also enhanced a Viking leader’s reputation, securing the loyalty of his warriors and attracting new ones. Conversely, the defenders were acutely aware of the awful consequences of defeat.
The Vikings and the era they epitomized of course haven’t lacked for recent histories, but Northmen is the best to appear in many seasons, involvingly written but also sharp-eyed in weighing its source material, and especially rewarding in taking a broader view of the whole Viking phenomenon, not just the battle axes and longboats but the farming colonies and trading consortiums. Readers interested in a learned and well-written overview of that phenomenon can’t do better in 2016 than this.