Using new archaeological, scientific, and documentary information this book confronts head-on many of the unanswered questions about early exploration and colonization along the shores of the Davis Strait.
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“This is a fascinating book, not only for those engaged in Atlantic studies or early American history. The clear and precise text, the skillful management of complex themes, and above all the sympathetic approach to human endeavors, coupled with a skeptical view of earlier theories and an open mind to new ideas, make it as easy to read as a novel.”—The Times Higher Education Supplement
“Of major importance, this book fills a serious gap in scholarly studies of European expansion. It brings new understandings to the relationships between Norse discoveries and the great voyages of Renaissance discovery in the North Atlantic. Furthermore, it is fascinating reading, written in a lively and very readable style. It should interest the general public and amateur historians as well as scholars.”—Dr. Helen Walls, British Map Library, British Museum
“For many aspiring writers, this book might well be a model of how to put across a complex theme in an easy-to-read manner. It is sure to provide much new information even to those who specialize in the North Atlantic, and provide topics for discussion, disagreement, and thought, as any well-researched book should do.”—Journal of the International Map Collector’s Society
From the Back Cover
“This is a fascinating book, not only for those engaged in Atlantic studies or early American history. The clear and precise text, the skillful management of complex themes, and above all the sympathetic approach to human endeavors, coupled with a skeptical view of earlier theories and an open mind to new ideas, make it as easy to read as a novel.”—The Times Higher Education Supplement
“Of major importance, this book fills a serious gap in scholarly studies of European expansion. It brings new understandings to the relationships between Norse discoveries and the great voyages of Renaissance discovery in the North Atlantic. Furthermore, it is fascinating reading, written in a lively and very readable style. It should interest the general public and amateur historians as well as scholars.”—Dr. Helen Walls, British Map Library, British Museum
“Of major importance, this book fills a serious gap in scholarly studies of European expansion. It brings new understandings to the relationships between Norse discoveries and the great voyages of Renaissance discovery in the North Atlantic. Furthermore, it is fascinating reading, written in a lively and very readable style. It should interest the general public and amateur historians as well as scholars.”—Dr. Helen Walls, British Map Library, British Museum
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great "whodunit" regarding the lost Greenland colonies.,
By
This review is from: The Frozen Echo: Greenland and the Exploration of North America, ca. A.D. 1000-1500 (Paperback)
Was it the Thule Eskimos attacking the Norse Greenland colonies which cause these groups of hardy descendants of Vikings to fall off the map of the North Atlantic after 1408? Was it changes in climate that caused them to move? Where then did they go? Was it the fishing vessels of unfriendly foreign powers or neglect from the homeland which cause these settlements to fail? This well-written scholarly work is difficult to put down as it traces the Greenland colonies from their establishment through their explorations of North America until their existance was "forgotten" by the Western World. Drawing on the latest works in archeology, medieval studies, and related scientific fields, this book provides illuminating insight into a unique culture on the edge of the known world and its final destiny.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent and up-to-date work on a fascinating story,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Frozen Echo: Greenland and the Exploration of North America, CA. A.D. 1000-1500 (Hardcover)
The story of Norse Greenland, the settlement at the end of the earth, and its disappearance, has fascinated scholars and laypeople for 500 years. Kirsten Seaver has produced the best and most readable work on the subject in 50 years, incorporating the large amount of very recent study being done in the field with acute insight and a clear narrative. (Although it means there is not much point in me writing my book on the subject :( )
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Norse in Greenland,
This review is from: The Frozen Echo: Greenland and the Exploration of North America, CA. A.D. 1000-1500 (Hardcover)
Author Seaver seems to have ramsacked the archives of Iceland and Norway to compile a thorough history of five centuries of Norse settlement in Greenland, including the famous and ill-fated Norse effort to establish a colony in North America about 1000 AD. There are enough Olafs and Sigrids here to people Lake Wobegone. The author is apparently Scandinavian -- or speaks Icelandic and medieval Norwegian -- and is thus able to dig deeper than most authors on this topic. She presents her findings in dry professorial prose that may tell some readers more than they really want to know about the internal politics of the North Atlantic back in medieval times.
The great mystery is, of course, why did the Norse colonies in Greenland disappear and when? A worsening climate, Innuit attacks, inbreeding, and isolation have all been cited as reasons. I won't reveal the author's conclusion except to say that she theorizes the Norse survived longer in Greenland -- perhaps after 1500 -- than most scholars believe. The most interesting and original part of the book for me was her examination of the important role of traders and cod fisherman from the English port of Bristol in the exploration of the North Atlantic in the 15th century. She makes a good case that these sailors might have reached the New World a few years before Columbus -- but like good fishermen everywhere kept their favorite fishing holes secret. All in all, this is a well-researched scholarly history with just enough learned speculation to keep a history and exploration buff reading on. It's the kind of book that -- if you're really, really a fanatic -- you could read a second time and benefit from many small points you missed on the first reading. Smallchief
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