So You Want to Be a Viking?

This humorous and handy guide contains all the information aspiring Vikings need to know about life as a Norse warrior. Expert tips include: how to plunder a monastery; how to keep your lunch in stormy seas; what to wear and what not to wear if you want to look like a boss; and how to avoid getting a battleaxe through your chest. Based on the bestselling Viking by historian John Haywood, So you want to be a Viking? features the field’s latest scholarship, complemented by the zany illustrations of Japanese cartoonist Takayo Akiyama. The result is a book that brings to life the experience of being a Viking in 991 ce – from learning to steer a longship to cleaning one’s spear after a particularly bloody battle – through a crew of likeable (as well as highly disagreeable) characters.