God's Viking

Harold Hardrada

by

Nic Fields

 For an author to write about Haraldr Sigurðarson, normally called Harald Hardrada which means hard-counsel or hard-ruler, is a difficult task. Mostly what we know about him comes from Norse sagas. Therefore, it is hard to tell the truth from hyperbole. Dr. Nic Fields has given himself a very hard task to present us with the historical Harold. From the battle of Stiklestad in 1030, where Harald was only fifteen, to the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, Harald blazed like a comet across the early Middle Ages sky. The chronicler Adam of Bremen called him the "Thunderbolt of the North". Let us take a look at what the author has given us.

 First, it is a large book, coming in at 366 pages. It is, however, not just a straight biography of Harald. His life is shown us throughout the pages, but the book brings a trove of many other things. The book is filled with the history of the Viking Age from the half-mythical Ragnar, to the death of the last real Viking Harald. The book also is packed with with facts about other parts of the age. It starts with a chapter named 'War', which shows exactly how Vikings fought, etc. The last chapter of the book, called 'He, her, hero, heroine' goes into the details of how Viking women shaped the age. The book is filled with various Norse kings and chieftains. It mentions Eiríkr Blóðøx (Eric Bloodaxe, a happy little sobriquet). The author describes him thus: "Norsemen were all warlike, but Eric Bloodaxe was a special case; he enjoyed homicide as a family activity". 

 The author also dispels some fallacies that we now take as gospel about events and people in the Viking Age. He shows that the 'Blood-Eagle' was just a literary license from the later writers of the sagas. Ivar the Boneless is also a victim of what the author calls "English literalism". In actual fact, the epithet 'boneless' is still used in Norway to describe a crafty, sly character, as in 'No bones, you can't hear him coming'. The Norse were well known for their tongue in cheek nicknames. They would use names like 'fatso' to describe a skinny person, and vice versa. 

 The book does not neglect Harald's life though. We see him as a fifteen year old warrior fighting beside his half-brother. Then we see his long journey through 'Rus' (modern Russia), all the way to the court of the Byzantine Emperor. He becomes a general and head of the Emperor's Varangian Guard. Varangian was the Byzantine word for the Northmen. We follow his return to Norway and the throne, to his twenty-year war to conquer Denmark. He finally falls at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the first and sometimes overlooked  invasion of England in 1066.

 The book goes into incredible depth about Harald and the age before and during his life. I can easily recommend it to anyone who wants to really find out about the history of the Viking Age. Thank you Casemate Publishers for letting me review this needed and timely book.

Robert

Book: God's Viking:  Harald Hardrada the Life and Times of the Last Great Viking

Author: Nic Fields

Publisher: Pen & Sword

Distributor: Casemate Publishers

Warlords of Republican Rome Caesar Versus Pompey

                                            

By

Dr. Nic Fields

 Warlords of Republican Rome Caesar versus Pompey is really a misnomer. It is really a political and military history of Rome from the rise of Marius to right before the battle of Phillipi.

 With this book you get a very well done political history of the Roman Republic. All of the Republics' elected offices and the qualifications needed for them, including the actual duties of the office holders, are explained in detail.

 The rise of Marius during the Jugurthine War, and his subsequent campaigns against the northern barbarian tribes, are gone over in depth. With the fear that engulfed Rome during these invasions of Italy, it is no wonder that Marius was proclaimed the third founder of Rome.

 

Marius

 The subsequent Social War with the Italian allies seeking Roman citizenship is touched upon. The virtual civil war between the optimates and the populares, more informally known as Sulla versus Marius, is explained.

 Then we head to the east for a description of the start of the twenty-four year long war with Mithridates of Pontus. Sulla's campaigns against Mithridates is explained to the reader, as is Sulla's return to Rome and his proscriptions (don't forget about Marius and Cinna's earlier proscriptions), and then his reforms to the Republic's laws are gone into. Sulla has himself made dictator with no period of time attached to his taking the office. Before, the dictatorship was only for at most six months and normally just until the crisis of the moment had passed. He does away with the overwhelming power of the tribunes, which has caused so much trouble over the last fifty years of the Republic. His other laws put the Senate squarely back in the saddle and holding the reins of government. Sulla then retires to private life, leading Caesar to comment " that Sulla knew nothing about politics", or perhaps he was very knowledgeable about politics and wanted the Republic restored to its glory. That is up to the reader to decide.

Mithridates

 From there the book goes into the rise of Pompey The Great, and all of his campaigns that made the Romans look at him as a new Alexander.

 The political history continues with the destruction of all of Sulla's reforms and the fall of the Republic into more chaos than even before his reforms. Crassus enters the field, as does a little known Julius Caesar. We read about the Catiline conspiracy and all of the other political upheavals until the first triumvirate of Crassus, Caesar, and Pompey takes place. Crassus' Parthian folly is shown to us also, and then we go to Caesar's bloody conquest of Gaul.

 The book then goes into the causes and military history of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey. Caesar's political agenda after his defeat of Pompey, and his overweening pride and attempt to make himself king and destroy the Republic is stripped bare for the reader to see.

 The events of the Ides of March are gone into, and the book finishes with the beginning of the second triumvirate of Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus. 

 Dr. Fields has really gone into a much larger area of Roman history than just a book about the military campaigns between Caesar, Pompey, and the other Republicans.

  As stated, the title is a misnomer, but that is not a bad point. By going into all of the different political and military history before the actual civil war between Caesar and Pompey, the reader becomes very well versed in the whys and not just a retelling of what happened. The book is written to not overwhelm a newcomer to Roman history, but it also will teach an old hand a thing or two.

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus

                                

 Robert


Book: Warlords of Republican Rome Caesar versus Pompey
Author: Dr. Nic Fields
Publisher: Casemate
Date of Review: 10/3/2016