Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Thanks to books and movies, the word Viking generates certain images and ideas for most people. This non-fiction book explores the Viking legend and the history of the Scandinavian people it originates from.   Review: I'm not a big impulse shopper but that doesn't really apply whenever I'm in our local library and happen to see a book that I think would be interesting. That was the case when I checked out Embers of the Hands a couple weeks ago, while there to pick up a book I had on hold. After reading it, I would consider it a good impulse decision. The Viking Age is an intriguing part of human history because, while there is so much influenced by the sea-voyaging Scandinavians that fit that description, there is also very little actually known about them because, as this book notes, a lot of Viking history was written down by the people they conquered (and didn't have incentive to get the information right). The author of this book tries to correct that w...