<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: For those truly interested in the subject
Review: I would have liked to have given this book 2.5 stars, right in the middle, because I really think it's a so-so book. But since the choice was 2 or 3 and 2 was too low, 3 stars it is.There is certainly a good deal of history and scholarship shown here, and for those such as myself who have an interest in the subject but lay no claim to expertise, much to be gained. But I couldn't shake the feeling that some academic scores were being settled. Helge Ingstad, who wrote most of the first parts of the book (with his wife, Anne Stine Ingstad, doing the part about the actual L'Anse aux Meadows dig), spends too much time deriding viewpoints alternate to his own. Since it was his line of reasoning that lead to the discovery of the L'Anse aux Meadows site, it seems that focusing on his own arguments should have been enough. Apparently, though, it wasn't. A major part of the book consists of summaries and analyses of two sagas telling different stories of the Vikings in Greenland and their exploration of North America. One, Erik's Saga, is a ripping good yarn that apparently had been the version favored by scholars. Ingstad makes a convincing argument that the other, The Groenlendinga Saga, is more historically reliable. But he does it at such length (about 1/3 the book) and in such language that the argument comes across as personal as much as academic, as a means of taking pokes at those on the other side of the issue. For example, The Groenlendinga Saga is a "plain, straightforward narrative" of "generally authentic nature," while Erik's Saga is by turns "improbable," "fiction" influenced by fables, "cannot be correct," "more than a little suspect," "incredible," and so on and so on. The description of the actual dig had a different problem: It was too much "we found this and then under this thick a layer we found this and then we found...." I truly wished for a greater context, more explanation of why a find was significant beyond the fact of proving Viking habitation. A number of times she refers to the depth of a strata though which they dug to find something. Was that significant? How? Why? What does it mean? The thing is, the book appears to be intended for a general (non-expert) audience. But at times I felt I had either walked into the middle of a scholarly debate or was reading a simplified field report. The result is, it's neither fish nor fowl, which is why I wanted to give it 2.5 stars. Oh, one final complaint: The quality of photographic reproduction in the book is by and large awful. It gives every indication of being taken from computer printouts of digital photographs, with all the attendant loss of fine detail. I'd say if you're really interested in the subject, give it a whirl. If your interest is more casual, skip it.
Rating: 
Summary: A "must" for Viking history buffs
Review: In The Viking Discovery Of America, Helge and Anne Ingstad relate the fascinating and informative story of the excavation of a Norse settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland and what this archaeological survey mean for our understanding of Viking explorations of the Western Hemisphere. With a meticulous scholarship, the Ingstads united the Viking sagas of discovery with engaging details about shipbuilding, navigation, culture, and lifestyle. The Viking Discovery Of America combines scholarly detective work with ground breaking archaeological confirmations to overturn centuries of historical assumptions and documenting Viking contact with the New World centuries before Christopher Columbus. The Viking Discovery Of America is an enthusiastically recommended addition to academic and community library collections, as well as a "must" for Viking history buffs and New World archaeology students.
<< 1 >>
| 
