Scan barcode
penguin_emperor_of_the_north's review against another edition
2.0
Eh, the overall idea was interesting but the execution was lacking.
The chapters on history, development of trade and finance were all interesting but there were a lot of details that felt very unnecessary, more padding than anything.
And the chapters on fashion and sex were just uncomfortable. The main point that our ancestors weren't terribly different from us was worth making but listening to an hour about each of those topics just got painful and wore at me.
Wish the chapters on stuff like the rise and fall of the Hanseatic League had taken up those two. Or talk more about the emergence of nation states.
The chapters on history, development of trade and finance were all interesting but there were a lot of details that felt very unnecessary, more padding than anything.
And the chapters on fashion and sex were just uncomfortable. The main point that our ancestors weren't terribly different from us was worth making but listening to an hour about each of those topics just got painful and wore at me.
Wish the chapters on stuff like the rise and fall of the Hanseatic League had taken up those two. Or talk more about the emergence of nation states.
annevblij's review against another edition
4.0
Als je wilt weten hoe Vikingen hun familieleden naar de eeuwige jachtvelden stuurden: zoek niet verder! Als je denkt dat wij zo mega beschaafd zijn: wordt beschaamd. Heel boeiend om te leren over de ontstaansgeschiedenis van de noordelijke wereld.
emeraldwhatnot's review against another edition
1.0
I read about this book in an Economist review in 2014 - and unfortunately this disjointed account of the North Sea (read: the Netherlands) did not meet my expectations or, in my view, coherently address the thesis implied in its title. This is a classic example of an author missing the forest for the trees- Pye gets bogged down by local anecdotes that for him may fit into a larger narrative, but for a reader not familiar with the historical context provides nothing but a muddled and isolated, if interesting, bits of information.
mongoosiah's review against another edition
Full of interesting tid bits, however the author seemed to struggle to bring together his central thesis, this gave the narrative a disjointed and over reaching feeling.
daja57's review against another edition
4.0
This history purports to tell the story of 'how the North Sea made us who we are' (its subtitle) and there are indeed chapters about the Frisians, the Vikings and the Hansa but other chapters, while continuing to focus on the countries bordering the North Sea, are about the development of literacy and lawyering, fashion and nature, and plague. I suppose that the idea is that the communications enabled by travelling across the North Sea shaped these developments, but I felt that the focus was lost.
Having said this, the book was well-written and, as with all well-written histories, I learned not just about the topics being examined but also more, in delightful asides. I certainly learned how ruthless the Hanseatic merchants were in enforcing protectivism for their own trade: they even blockaded Norway till the population started to starve to bring the King of Noway to heel (Dealers rule)
Having said this, the book was well-written and, as with all well-written histories, I learned not just about the topics being examined but also more, in delightful asides. I certainly learned how ruthless the Hanseatic merchants were in enforcing protectivism for their own trade: they even blockaded Norway till the population started to starve to bring the King of Noway to heel (Dealers rule)
bittersweet_symphony's review against another edition
2.0
If it weren't for the subject matter I would give this book a single star.
Pye begins with a promising premise and ultimately falls short of it, majorly. He attempts to tell the tale of Northern Europe where "identity became a matter of where you were and where you last came from, not some abstract notion of race; peoples were not separated sharply as they were by nineteenth-century frontiers, venturing out only to conquer or be conquered. Indeed, quite often they ventured out to change sides. Instead of dark mistakes about pure blood, racial identity, homogenous nations with their own soul and spirit and distinct nature, we have something far more exciting: the story of people making choices, not always freely, sometimes under fearsome pressure, but still choosing and inventing and making lives for themselves." He preaches history as a danger to nationalism.
Unfortunately, his book is poorly organized, and disjointed. He meanders through a patchwork of stories, commentary, and details that don't appear to be threaded together by any central thesis. He jumps from one century to another, from one historical figure to the next and ends a chapter without connecting it to his ultimate premise. The reader is left wondering, how the hell did this end up shaping modern Europe? He doesn't connect the dots and doesn't make a convincing case. Did the peoples of the North Seas impact history? Certainly, but no case is made for exactly how the fashion, politics, money, law, science, and views on marriage directly created Modern Europe.
He spewed all sorts of trivia, small scenes, and vague summaries about the medieval period. He gives his readers little structure upon which to hang and organize all these bits of information. I wanted so badly to care and be interested. Instead, he took a subject I care a lot about and turned it into flotsam and jetsom--how does one make Vikings and the wanderers of Northern Europe uninteresting?
I am a disciplined reader who completes nearly every book I start, as a personal rule, even when I don't gather much joy from it. This book is one of those rare exceptions.
Pye begins with a promising premise and ultimately falls short of it, majorly. He attempts to tell the tale of Northern Europe where "identity became a matter of where you were and where you last came from, not some abstract notion of race; peoples were not separated sharply as they were by nineteenth-century frontiers, venturing out only to conquer or be conquered. Indeed, quite often they ventured out to change sides. Instead of dark mistakes about pure blood, racial identity, homogenous nations with their own soul and spirit and distinct nature, we have something far more exciting: the story of people making choices, not always freely, sometimes under fearsome pressure, but still choosing and inventing and making lives for themselves." He preaches history as a danger to nationalism.
Unfortunately, his book is poorly organized, and disjointed. He meanders through a patchwork of stories, commentary, and details that don't appear to be threaded together by any central thesis. He jumps from one century to another, from one historical figure to the next and ends a chapter without connecting it to his ultimate premise. The reader is left wondering, how the hell did this end up shaping modern Europe? He doesn't connect the dots and doesn't make a convincing case. Did the peoples of the North Seas impact history? Certainly, but no case is made for exactly how the fashion, politics, money, law, science, and views on marriage directly created Modern Europe.
He spewed all sorts of trivia, small scenes, and vague summaries about the medieval period. He gives his readers little structure upon which to hang and organize all these bits of information. I wanted so badly to care and be interested. Instead, he took a subject I care a lot about and turned it into flotsam and jetsom--how does one make Vikings and the wanderers of Northern Europe uninteresting?
I am a disciplined reader who completes nearly every book I start, as a personal rule, even when I don't gather much joy from it. This book is one of those rare exceptions.
miss_blackbird's review against another edition
3.0
A bit all over the place, like ships on the North Sea.