The book is written in a very informal tone, and for periods of time Jarman addresses the audience in the first person as we hear about her research.
You are able to focus on the topic at hand (Viking women, religion, slavery) whilst calling back to previous information Jarman has given you. The book is split into themed chapters that weave back and forth between places and times and this works well.
I have not been disappointed.Īs is mentioned in the blurb, the book follows Jarman’s story as she researches a carnelian bead, the site it was found at, and its possible wider journey across the world to reach its resting place. I also know very little at all about the Vikings (or, perhaps more accurately, medieval Scandinavia) and thought this would be a good introduction to the topic. I decided to buy River Kings during a book shop haul because I had seen bits and pieces about it on Twitter. This is a major reassessment and a thrilling investigative story, revealing both the world of the Vikings and the cutting-edge forensic methods we use to understand them.
Her investigation into its origins would cast radical new light on the Vikings – from the surprisingly extensive Scandinavian forays into the East to the dominance of a global slave trade running between the Silk Roads and medieval Britain. In 2017, Cat Jarman came into possession of a small orange bead. River Kings: The Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads came out last year to critical acclaim, and is a very different type of history book to one that I usually read for its focus on archaeology rather than written records.
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