Osprey Publishing – serie

A rich and compelling account of the life of King Harald Hardrada, the man who inspired the hit Netflix show "Vikings: Valhalla".'The Last Viking reads like the sagas on which it is based. It's Beowulf on steroids, laced with purple prose...This book is great fun. '- Gerard DeGroot, The TimesHarald Sigurdsson burst into history as a teenaged youth in a Viking battle from which he escaped with little more than his life and a thirst for vengeance. But from these humble origins, he became one of Norway’s most legendary kings. The Last Viking is a fast-moving narrative account of the life of King Harald Hardrada, as he journeyed across the medieval world, from the frozen wastelands of the North to the glittering towers of Byzantium and the passions of the Holy Land, until his warrior death on the battlefield in England.Combining Norse sagas, Byzantine accounts, Anglo-Saxon chronicles, and even King Harald’s own verse and prose into a single, compelling story, Don Hollway vividly depicts the violence and spectacle of the late Viking era and delves into the dramatic events that brought an end to almost three centuries of Norse conquest and expansion.

Bursting with full colour illustrations, a handy, complete guide to the Vikings, from the lives they led at home to their voyages of plunder across Europe and into America.The history of the Vikings is bloody and eventful, and Viking warriors capture the popular imagination to this day. They made history, establishing the dukedom of Normandy, providing the Byzantine Emperors’ bodyguard and landing on the shores of America 500 years before Columbus.Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs and original Osprey artwork, this book presents a new window into their way of life including detailed studies of the Hersir, the raiding warrior of the Viking world, and the legendary Viking longship.

The history of the Vikings is bloody and eventful, and Viking warriors capture the popular imagination to this day. They made history, establishing the dukedom of Normandy, providing the Byzantine Emperors'' bodyguard and landing on the shores of America 500 years before Columbus. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs and original Osprey artwork, this book presents a new window into their way of life including detailed studies of the Hersir, the raiding warrior of the Viking world, and the legendary Viking longship.

The history of the Vikings is bloody and eventful, and Viking warriors capture the popular imagination to this day. They made history, establishing the dukedom of Normandy, providing the Byzantine Emperors'' bodyguard and landing on the shores of America 500 years before Columbus. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs and original Osprey artwork, this book presents a new window into their way of life including detailed studies of the Hersir, the raiding warrior of the Viking world, and the legendary Viking longship.

''The Last Viking is a masterful and pulse-pounding narrative that transports the reader into the middle of the action.'' Carl Gnam, Military HeritageHarald Sigurdsson burst into history as a teenaged youth in a Viking battle from which he escaped with little more than his life and a thirst for vengeance. But from these humble origins, he became one of Norway''s most legendary kings. The Last Viking is a fast-moving narrative account of the life of King Harald Hardrada, as he journeyed across the medieval world, from the frozen wastelands of the North to the glittering towers of Byzantium and the passions of the Holy Land, until his warrior death on the battlefield in England.Combining Norse sagas, Byzantine accounts, Anglo-Saxon chronicles, and even King Harald''s own verse and prose into a single, compelling story, Don Hollway vividly depicts the violence and spectacle of the late Viking era and delves into the dramatic events that brought an end to almost three centuries of Norse conquest and expansion.

''The Last Viking is a masterful and pulse-pounding narrative that transports the reader into the middle of the action.'' Carl Gnam, Military HeritageHarald Sigurdsson burst into history as a teenaged youth in a Viking battle from which he escaped with little more than his life and a thirst for vengeance. But from these humble origins, he became one of Norway''s most legendary kings. The Last Viking is a fast-moving narrative account of the life of King Harald Hardrada, as he journeyed across the medieval world, from the frozen wastelands of the North to the glittering towers of Byzantium and the passions of the Holy Land, until his warrior death on the battlefield in England.Combining Norse sagas, Byzantine accounts, Anglo-Saxon chronicles, and even King Harald''s own verse and prose into a single, compelling story, Don Hollway vividly depicts the violence and spectacle of the late Viking era and delves into the dramatic events that brought an end to almost three centuries of Norse conquest and expansion.

''No one has done more than Michael Livingston to revive memories of the battle, and you could not hope for a better guide.'' BERNARD CORNWELL Bestselling author of The Last Kingdom seriesLate in AD 937, four armies met in a place called Brunanburh. On one side stood the shield-wall of the expanding kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons. On the other side stood a remarkable alliance of rival kings at least two from across the sea who''d come together to destroy them once and for all. The stakes were no less than the survival of the dream that would become England. The armies were massive. The violence, when it began, was enough to shock a violent age. Brunanburh may not today have the fame of Hastings, Cr cy or Agincourt, but those later battles, fought for England, would not exist were it not for the blood spilled this day. Generations later it was still called, quite simply, the ''great battle''. But for centuries, its location has been lost. Today, an extraordinary effort, uniting enthusiasts, historians, archaeologists, linguists, and other researchers amateurs and professionals, experienced and inexperienced alike may well have found the site of the long-lost battle of Brunanburh, over a thousand years after its bloodied fields witnessed history. This groundbreaking new book tells the story of this remarkable discovery and delves into why and how the battle happened. Most importantly, though, it is about the men who fought and died at Brunanburh, and how much this forgotten struggle can tell us about who we are and how we relate to our past.

''No one has done more than Michael Livingston to revive memories of the battle, and you could not hope for a better guide.'' BERNARD CORNWELL Bestselling author of The Last Kingdom seriesLate in AD 937, four armies met in a place called Brunanburh. On one side stood the shield-wall of the expanding kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons. On the other side stood a remarkable alliance of rival kings at least two from across the sea who''d come together to destroy them once and for all. The stakes were no less than the survival of the dream that would become England. The armies were massive. The violence, when it began, was enough to shock a violent age. Brunanburh may not today have the fame of Hastings, Cr cy or Agincourt, but those later battles, fought for England, would not exist were it not for the blood spilled this day. Generations later it was still called, quite simply, the ''great battle''. But for centuries, its location has been lost. Today, an extraordinary effort, uniting enthusiasts, historians, archaeologists, linguists, and other researchers amateurs and professionals, experienced and inexperienced alike may well have found the site of the long-lost battle of Brunanburh, over a thousand years after its bloodied fields witnessed history. This groundbreaking new book tells the story of this remarkable discovery and delves into why and how the battle happened. Most importantly, though, it is about the men who fought and died at Brunanburh, and how much this forgotten struggle can tell us about who we are and how we relate to our past.