Overview

A magnetic book on the North Sea brimming with rollicking adventures, vivid characters and witty observations Between the fall of Rome and the dawn of the Enlightenment, northern Europe went from barbaric outpost to being the centre of everything, building the world we know. We have ignored its impact, but the reason is the North Sea- boats carried food and raw materials but also new ideas and information. Seafarers raided and killed but also settled and coupled, bringing the tastes and technologies that would make us modern. This is the story of the saints and spies, fishermen and pirates, traders and marauders whose journeys changed everything.

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9780241963838

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Reviews

It's fascinating to understand [these] historical trends and ideas -- Jeremy Corbyn An utterly beguiling journey into the dark ages of the north sea. A complete revelation ... Pye writes like a dream. Magnificent -- Jerry Brotton, author of 'A History of the World in Twelve Maps' A closely-researched and fascinating characterisation of the richness of life and the underestimated interconnections of the peoples all around the medieval and early modern North Sea. A real page-turner -- Chris Wickham, author of 'The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000' Elegant writing and extraordinary scholarship ... Miraculous -- Hugh Aldersey-Williams, author of 'Periodic Tales' and 'Anatomies' Splendid. A heady mix of social, economic, and intellectual history, written in an engaging style. It offers a counterpoint to the many studies of the Mediterranean, arguing for the importance of the North Sea. Exciting, fun, and informative -- Michael Prestwich, Professor of History, Durham University Brilliant. Pye is a wonderful historian ... bringing history to life like no one else. Who knew that the Irish invented punctuation? -- Terry Jones A masterly storyteller Vogue Pye has a great journalist's eye for a story and the telling anecdote as well as a great historian's ability to place it in the bigger picture. Here he fuses those talents in a hugely eclectic study of the very first stirrings of modernity in northern Europe -- Alexander McCall Smith Pye draws on a dizzying array of documentary and archaeological scholarship, which he works together in surprising ways ... He advances on several fronts at once, following the overlapping currents of customary, religious and empirical ways of thinking. He writes about difficult concepts with vivid details and stories, often jump-cutting from exposition to drama like a film. It's complicated, but fun Economist Hugely enjoyable. it is the measure of Pye's achievement that he can breathe life into the traders of seventh-century Frisia or the beguines of late-medieval Flanders as well as into his more celebrated subjects ... Grey the waters of the North Sea may be; but Pye has successfully dyed them with a multitude of rich colours -- Tom Holland Guardian A dazzling historical adventure Daily Telegraph An extraordinary book ... Pye makes astonishing discoveries. Brevity is the bane of the reviewer; the best books are impossible to summarise in just 900 words. That's especially true with a treasure chest like this one ... The end result is brilliantly illuminating. Pye's creativity brings light to this once dark time The Times A multi-layered book that demands time to read and be digested but rewards by giving one plenty to chew on Observer Excellent. The Edge of the World does what good non-fiction should, in making the reader see the world in a different light Scotland on Sunday An inspiring book, full of surprises ... this is the kind of book that can open up new vistas. It might just rekindle a sense that Britain really is a North Sea nation and not just a rootless post-Imperium searching for a niche in the global emporium Independent A joy to read and reread. Pye challenges all our notions of the Dark Ages and shows the vast accomplishments completed long before the Renaissance. This book must be ranked right up there with the works of Mark Kurlansky and Thomas Cahill as a primer of the steps that led to modern civilization Kirkus, starred review An eye-opening reexamination of of Europe during the Dark Ages, and delightfully accessible. Pye's style is leisurely yet authoritative, scholarly but engaging; his approach resembles that of a docent leading a group through a vast museum, with each section devoted to a different aspect of society Publishers Weekly Refreshing. Pye excels at painting a unique portrait of the political, economic, and cultural transformation that has occurred on the shores of the North Sea. His frequent use of primary sources as well as fictional literary works gives the work an ethereal nature Library Journal Wonderful - well researched and beautifully written; he weaves in glorious anecdotes that show the Viking world as it should be seen -- Dr Peter Frankopan, Director, The Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research

An utterly beguiling journey into the dark ages of the north sea. A complete revelation ... Pye writes like a dream. Magnificent -- Jerry Brotton, author of 'A History of the World in Twelve Maps' A closely-researched and fascinating characterisation of the richness of life and the underestimated interconnections of the peoples all around the medieval and early modern North Sea. A real page-turner -- Chris Wickham, author of 'The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000' Elegant writing and extraordinary scholarship ... Miraculous -- Hugh Aldersey-Williams, author of 'Periodic Tales' and 'Anatomies' Splendid. A heady mix of social, economic, and intellectual history, written in an engaging style. It offers a counterpoint to the many studies of the Mediterranean, arguing for the importance of the North Sea. Exciting, fun, and informative -- Michael Prestwich, Professor of History, Durham University Brilliant. Pye is a wonderful historian ... bringing history to life like no one else. Who knew that the Irish invented punctuation? -- Terry Jones A masterly storyteller Vogue Pye has a great journalist's eye for a story and the telling anecdote as well as a great historian's ability to place it in the bigger picture. Here he fuses those talents in a hugely eclectic study of the very first stirrings of modernity in northern Europe -- Alexander McCall Smith Pye draws on a dizzying array of documentary and archaeological scholarship, which he works together in surprising ways ... He advances on several fronts at once, following the overlapping currents of customary, religious and empirical ways of thinking. He writes about difficult concepts with vivid details and stories, often jump-cutting from exposition to drama like a film. It's complicated, but fun Economist Hugely enjoyable. it is the measure of Pye's achievement that he can breathe life into the traders of seventh-century Frisia or the beguines of late-medieval Flanders as well as into his more celebrated subjects ... Grey the waters of the North Sea may be; but Pye has successfully dyed them with a multitude of rich colours -- Tom Holland Guardian A dazzling historical adventure Daily Telegraph An extraordinary book ... Pye makes astonishing discoveries. Brevity is the bane of the reviewer; the best books are impossible to summarise in just 900 words. That's especially true with a treasure chest like this one ... The end result is brilliantly illuminating. Pye's creativity brings light to this once dark time The Times A multi-layered book that demands time to read and be digested but rewards by giving one plenty to chew on Observer Excellent. The Edge of the World does what good non-fiction should, in making the reader see the world in a different light Scotland on Sunday An inspiring book, full of surprises ... this is the kind of book that can open up new vistas. It might just rekindle a sense that Britain really is a North Sea nation and not just a rootless post-Imperium searching for a niche in the global emporium Independent

An utterly beguiling journey into the dark ages of the north sea. A complete revelation ... Pye writes like a dream. Magnificent -- Jerry Brotton, author of 'A History of the World in Twelve Maps' A closely-researched and fascinating characterisation of the richness of life and the underestimated interconnections of the peoples all around the medieval and early modern North Sea. A real page-turner -- Chris Wickham, author of 'The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000' Elegant writing and extraordinary scholarship ... Miraculous -- Hugh Aldersey-Williams, author of 'Periodic Tales' and 'Anatomies' Splendid. A heady mix of social, economic, and intellectual history, written in an engaging style. It offers a counterpoint to the many studies of the Mediterranean, arguing for the importance of the North Sea. Exciting, fun, and informative -- Michael Prestwich, Professor of History, Durham University Brilliant. Pye is a wonderful historian ... bringing history to life like no one else. Who knew that the Irish invented punctuation? -- Terry Jones A masterly storyteller Vogue Pye has a great journalist's eye for a story and the telling anecdote as well as a great historian's ability to place it in the bigger picture. Here he fuses those talents in a hugely eclectic study of the very first stirrings of modernity in northern Europe -- Alexander McCall Smith Pye draws on a dizzying array of documentary and archaeological scholarship, which he works together in surprising ways ... He advances on several fronts at once, following the overlapping currents of customary, religious and empirical ways of thinking. He writes about difficult concepts with vivid details and stories, often jump-cutting from exposition to drama like a film. It's complicated, but fun Economist Hugely enjoyable. it is the measure of Pye's achievement that he can breathe life into the traders of seventh-century Frisia or the beguines of late-medieval Flanders as well as into his more celebrated subjects ... Grey the waters of the North Sea may be; but Pye has successfully dyed them with a multitude of rich colours -- Tom Holland Guardian A dazzling historical adventure Daily Telegraph An extraordinary book ... Pye makes astonishing discoveries. Brevity is the bane of the reviewer; the best books are impossible to summarise in just 900 words. That's especially true with a treasure chest like this one ... The end result is brilliantly illuminating. Pye's creativity brings light to this once dark time The Times A multi-layered book that demands time to read and be digested but rewards by giving one plenty to chew on Observer Excellent. The Edge of the World does what good non-fiction should, in making the reader see the world in a different light Scotland on Sunday An inspiring book, full of surprises ... this is the kind of book that can open up new vistas. It might just rekindle a sense that Britain really is a North Sea nation and not just a rootless post-Imperium searching for a niche in the global emporium Independent A joy to read and reread. Pye challenges all our notions of the Dark Ages and shows the vast accomplishments completed long before the Renaissance. This book must be ranked right up there with the works of Mark Kurlansky and Thomas Cahill as a primer of the steps that led to modern civilization Kirkus, starred review An eye-opening reexamination of of Europe during the Dark Ages, and delightfully accessible. Pye's style is leisurely yet authoritative, scholarly but engaging; his approach resembles that of a docent leading a group through a vast museum, with each section devoted to a different aspect of society Publishers Weekly Refreshing. Pye excels at painting a unique portrait of the political, economic, and cultural transformation that has occurred on the shores of the North Sea. His frequent use of primary sources as well as fictional literary works gives the work an ethereal nature Library Journal

Author Information

Michael Pye has written eleven previous books, translated into eleven languages, including two British bestsellers and two New York Times 'Notable Books of the Year'. He took a First and various prizes in Modern History at Oxford, and was then for many years a highly successful journalist, columnist and broadcaster in London and New York. He now lives between London and rural Portugal.

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