normans review

"The Normans" by Lars Brownworth is a nonfiction historical account of the process of the Normans starting with Ragdar, the Viking (yes, he was a real guy) to the Prince of Antioch.  The book tends to stick to a political and military style telling.  There is little of culture outside of those two categories.  However, we are talking about a couple of centuries of little known history. There is tons of information to get across.  Early European history is rarely touched by Americans, so I knew little about the Normans other than a few references here and there and of course, The Vikings, the TV show on the History Channel.  This book goes beyond that and into the results of those early Vikings.  The Normans came from Viking stock and invaded (attacked) parts of England, France, Italy, etc, only to settle and progress as communities tend to do. This follows that story.
This book is for the history buff.   Brownworth keeps the reader's attention and yet stick gives tons of information without being boring.  I liked this book and would recommend it to the average history buff.  I received this book for free from www.librarything.com.