River kings by Cat Jarman
River kings by Cat Jarman – the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silks Roads – is an interesting book. I recommend it, but with an important caveat, hence the 2 stars. Horod is a city/fortification in Slavonic languages, she said it was “russian”. Well, russia, didn’t exist back then. The earliest form, the “tsardom of russia”, dates back to the 1500s. The Vikings were long gone by then. But Kyiv has a long history, it was a Viking city, it used a Slavonic language. She wrote at least a full chapter on how big and important was Kyiv for the Vikings, for trade and so on. Saying the Viking “rus” means “russian” it is as just as saying that William the Conqueror attacked Britain or that the Viking raid in 793 was on the island of Lindisfarne, England. Or it’s like excavating in US, finding something from 1240 and saying it’s American. This lack of attention resulted in a 2 stars rating instead of 5.
Besides this issue, the rest of the book is good. I like reading about Vikings and I wanted something to take my mind off other subjects [e.g. Ukraine & russian propaganda and attacks]. It did not succeed at that, as it is clear.
The story of a bead discovered in UK, which was on a long journey to get there, all the way from Asia, is very unusual. I like this micro history case. She used bioarchaeology and forensic techniques to trace the path the Vikings took in their journeys.
There is a description of radiocarbon dating and how it is impacted depending on what a person eat in its lifetime that I was fascinated about. For that part of the book alone I’m glad I read it.
River kings by Cat Jarman
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My rating: 2/5 Stars
Would I recommend it: yes, with the caveat
Published by: William Collins
Year it was published: 2021
Format: Paperback
Genre(s): History
Pages: 336
About the author: Cat Jarman is a bioarchaeologist and field archaeologist specializing in the Viking Age and Viking women. She uses forensic techniques like isotope analysis, carbon dating, and DNA analysis on human remains to untangle the experiences of past people from broader historical narratives. Dr. Jarman has contributed to numerous television documentaries as both an on-screen expert and historical consultant, including programs for the BBC, History Chanel, Discovery, among others. She lives in Britain.
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I’ve read very little about the Vikings other than in historical fiction from the early days of the British Isles. I think it would be a fascinating topic, but probably not this book. I want more accuracy in non-fiction.
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It was frustrating, as the story was interesting and I had no idea how big Kyiv was at that time, in the 7-8th centuries. A real shame.
I sat down last night with the March issue of National Geographic and was surprised to see a feature on Viking Women. It had a map showing the range of where the Vikings travelled, including Kyev/Ukraine. It focused a lot on the warrior grave at Birka that was thought to be a male for 140 years, but finally confirmed through DNA to be female. It was a very interesting article with some good photos.
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That sounds fascinating.