A review by jmkemp
The Edge of the World: A Cultural History of the North Sea and the Transformation of Europe by Michael Pye

4.0

I found this an incredible help with world building for a post-viking fantasy. It covers a wide sweep of history, around a thousand years, and does so by topic rather than as a narrative chronology.

From a world building perspective there's an awful lot to like. The Edge of the World looks at what might have made the North Sea coastal states the way they became. Why are they different from the Mediterranean states just south of them?

It's very readable, and if you want to know more about any of the anecdotes then they're well referenced. I quite liked the analysis, although I recognise the limitations of it. The broad sweep means you couldn't be sure that there is an actual cause and effect in play. Even though multiple instances of a phenomenon exist the passage of time means it could just be coincidence. However for fantasy world building it's good enough to run with.

The central premise is that the North Sea folk had more in common with each other than those overland to the south because they shared the sea as a primary method of transport. The British, Irish and Dutch are as much Viking as the Normans, Danes and Norwegians that also shared the North Sea on the edge of the world. The other key premise is that because we all lived on marginal land we needed to trade. None of us could be completely self sufficient, or at least not without a monotonous diet and clothing. So we took what we had lots of and either traded or raided. This is the foundation for a lot of our society.

This then extends to stock markets and limited liability companies with insurance. All ways to spread the risks and reward from the hazardous pursuit of trade. Women's rights are also covered. In the early periods, and in the Scandinavian countries, they're more advanced. Largely because you need an agent at home as well as one abroad when you are trading. So women get the involved in society to the same extent as the men do. There's less expectation of being a housewife. It's only when things become safer, and society more prosperous, that women lose their rights. Even then there's a class/wealth aspect to it. This is in contrast to the Mediterranean societies where the women were never empowered.

Lastly the origins of money, lost when the Roman Empire fell, are explored. There's an interesting chapter on how it moves from barter, to weight of precious metals over to paper.