
The Sea Wolves
A History of the Vikings
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Narrated by:
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Joe Barrett
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By:
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Lars Brownworth
About this listen
In AD 793 Norse warriors struck the English isle of Lindisfarne and laid waste to it. Wave after wave of Norse "sea wolves" followed in search of plunder, land, or a glorious death in battle. Much of the British Isles fell before their swords, and the continental capitals of Paris and Aachen were sacked in turn. Turning east, they swept down the uncharted rivers of central Europe, captured Kiev, and clashed with mighty Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
But there is more to the Viking story than brute force. They were makers of law - the term itself comes from an Old Norse word - and they introduced a novel form of trial by jury to England. They were also sophisticated merchants and explorers who settled Iceland, founded Dublin, and established a trading network that stretched from Baghdad to the coast of North America.
In The Sea Wolves, Lars Brownworth brings to life this extraordinary Norse world of epic poets, heroes, and travelers through the stories of the great Viking figures, including Leif the Lucky, Eric Bloodaxe, and Harald Hardrada. This riveting history illuminates the saga of the Viking age - a time that "has passed away, and grown dark under the cover of night."
©2014 Lars Brownworth (P)2015 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
Harald 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.
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Just okay
- By Amazon Customer on 06-28-24
By: Don Hollway
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The Viking Spirit
- An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion
- By: Daniel McCoy
- Narrated by: Andrew Tell
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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The Viking Spirit is an introduction to Norse mythology like no other. As you’d expect from Daniel McCoy, the creator of the endearingly popular website "Norse Mythology for Smart People", it’s written to scholarly standards, but in a simple, clear, and entertaining style that’s easy to understand and a pleasure to listen to. It includes gripping retellings of no less than 34 epic Norse myths - more than any other book in the field - while also providing an equally comprehensive overview of the fascinating viking religion of which Norse mythology was a part.
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Christo-centric revisionist
- By Megan List on 12-03-19
By: Daniel McCoy
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Ragnar Lothbrok and a History of the Vikings
- Viking Warriors Including Rollo, Norsemen, Norse Mythology, Quests in America, England, France, Scotland, Ireland and Russia
- By: Noah Brown
- Narrated by: Dalan E. Decker
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Ragnar Lothbrok was a legendary warrior who left a legacy among the Vikings like none other. Today's popular TV show may have popularized Ragnar's story, but the real facts are not very well known. Discover the truth behind this Viking warrior and the rich history of the Vikings.
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Happy with this purchase!
- By Michelle Watson on 09-08-19
By: Noah Brown
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Viking Blood and Blade
- By: Peter Gibbons
- Narrated by: Nicholas Jordan
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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AD 865. The fierce Vikings stormed onto Saxon soil hungry for spoils, conquest, and vengeance for the death of Ragnar Lothbrok. Hundr, a Northman with a dog's name...a crew of battle hardened warriors...and Ivar the Boneless. Amidst the invasion of Saxon England by the sons of Ragnar Lothbrok, Hundr joins a crew of Viking warriors under the command of Einar the Brawler. Hundr fights to forge a warriors reputation under the glare of Ivar and his equally fearsome brothers, but to do that he must battle the Saxons and treachery from within the Viking army itself...
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Good book, horrible narrator
- By Matthew Beach on 11-23-21
By: Peter Gibbons
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1066: The Year That Changed Everything
- By: Jennifer Paxton, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Jennifer Paxton
- Length: 3 hrs
- Original Recording
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With this exciting and historically rich six-lecture course, experience for yourself the drama of this dynamic year in medieval history, centered on the landmark Norman Conquest. Taking you from the shores of Scandinavia and France to the battlefields of the English countryside, these lectures will plunge you into a world of fierce Viking warriors, powerful noble families, politically charged marriages, tense succession crises, epic military invasions, and much more.
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History brought to life
- By Joshua on 07-10-13
By: Jennifer Paxton, and others
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Kill Anything That Moves
- The Real American War in Vietnam
- By: Nick Turse
- Narrated by: Don Lee
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Americans have long been taught that events such as the notorious My Lai massacre were "isolated incidents" in the Vietnam War, carried out by a few "bad apples." However, as award-winning journalist and historian Nick Turse demonstrates in this pioneering investigation, violence against Vietnamese civilians was not at all exceptional. Rather, it was pervasive and systematic, the predictable consequence of official orders to "kill anything that moves."
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A book that shakes you to your core
- By Gary Yevelev on 04-26-15
By: Nick Turse
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Messalina
- A Story of Empire, Slander and Adultery
- By: Honor Cargill-Martin
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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The scandalous image of the Empress Messalina as a ruthless and sexually insatiable schemer, derived from the work of Roman historians such as Tacitus and Suetonius, has taken deep root in the Western imagination. The stories they told about her included nightly visits to a brothel and a twenty-four-hour sex competition with a prostitute. Tales like these have defined the empress's legacy, but her real story is much more complex. In her new life of Messalina, the classicist Honor Cargill-Martin reappraises one of the most slandered and underestimated female figures of ancient history.
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Fantastic Deep Dive
- By Matt on 03-11-25
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Persians
- The Age of the Great Kings
- By: Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
- Narrated by: Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
- Length: 18 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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The Achaemenid Persian kings ruled over the largest empire of antiquity, stretching from Libya to the steppes of Asia and from Ethiopia to Pakistan. In Persians, historian Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones tells the epic story of this dynasty and the world it ruled. Drawing on Iranian inscriptions, cuneiform tablets, art, and archaeology, he shows how the Achaemenid Persian Empire was the world’s first superpower—one built, despite its imperial ambition, on cooperation and tolerance. This is the definitive history of the Achaemenid dynasty and its legacies in modern-day Iran.
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Good History and Historiography
- By David A on 04-19-22
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River Kings
- A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads
- By: Cat Jarman
- Narrated by: Christine Rendel
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Three years ago, a Carnelian bead came into Catrine Jarman's temporary possession. River Kings sees her trace the path of this ancient piece of jewelry back to eighth-century Baghdad and India, discovering along the way that the Vikings' route was far more varied than we might think—that with them came people from the Middle East, and that the reason for this unexpected integration between the Eastern and Western worlds may well have been a slave trade running through the Silk Road, all the way to Britain.
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interesting story
- By Edwin L. Carlson on 04-05-25
By: Cat Jarman
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A Rome of One's Own
- The Forgotten Women of the Roman Empire
- By: Emma Southon
- Narrated by: Danielle Cohen
- Length: 14 hrs
- Unabridged
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A Rome of One’s Own is a retelling of the history of Rome with the Important Things, but also all the things Roman history writers relegate to the background—or designate as domestic, feminine, or worthless. This is a history of individuals, twenty-one women who span the length of its territory and its centuries, who caused outrage, led armies in rebellion, wrote poetry, lived independently or under the thumb of emperors. A Rome of One’s Own highlights women overlooked and misunderstood, and through them offers a fascinating and groundbreaking chronicle of the ancient world.
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Excellent stories, needlessly foul language
- By ShamaLambaDingDong on 04-14-24
By: Emma Southon
What listeners say about The Sea Wolves
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- Angela
- 08-30-15
A little dry but very interesting
Once you get used to the tone of the narrator it's very good, but he is very dry. I just finished listening to the Greatest Courses audiobook The Vikings, and this book basically reiterated everything that was in that lecture but in a more story-like and less lecture-like fashion. I enjoyed both and this book had a lot of slightly different perspectives and a few more details that weren't in the Greatest Courses lecture that were interesting. Definitely recommend if you're into Viking history.
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25 people found this helpful
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- ryan
- 09-30-16
Excellent!
Brownworth's, "The Sea Wolves" is a well written, concise history of Viking exploits excellently orated.
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- Repair Technician
- 02-06-18
History of Vikings role in Western Civilization
Good summary of Viking history and its role in the formation of Europe and the Byzantine Empire. Book ties back other major historical developments within England and the Byzantine Empire as well as Russia.
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- Charlie Beuttel
- 01-31-24
Great Viking book
The reader can be a little dry at times but this is a great book about vikings with lots of information
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- J. Lopez
- 11-28-24
Excellent narrating.
Really enjoyed the clarity of the stories. Very compelling to keep listening. The book covers all the key vikings of their time.
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- SAMA
- 10-24-16
A Great Historical Epic
The tale of Vikings and their culture as it developed. It is an audiobook worth listening to.
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2 people found this helpful
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- GNG
- 05-09-18
Absolutely amazing
As always, Lars conveys the history without the sacrifice of events and dates, but also in context of human lives and personalities, providing an incredibly captivating narrative. I listened to it more than once and never got bored. I’ve never experienced history being conveyed in such an interesting and relevant way, except by Lars.
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- Matt
- 04-11-17
Generic
The story is pretty generic, but does cover the major events of the Viking age. If you're looking for something easy and entertaining this is it. If you are looking for something more scholarly, look elsewhere. It is narrated by Joe Barrett, and although, I got used to it, his style is very distracting.
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- Paul Anderson
- 08-02-17
Very Nice Story....
I enjoyed the way that everything goes into the rest of European history. Now I need the actual book!
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- J. Mar
- 06-16-20
Lars Read Your Own Books
This was a great survey of Viking history without getting too bogged down in details that aren’t that important to the big picture. I loved this history. Well written. I actually seek out books read by Joe Barrett like Norco and Hunting the Jackal, but Lars should read his own stuff.
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