This slender but readable book deals with Viking history from the viewpoint of the story of the conversion of the Norse lands to Christianity. But this is no theological work. Instead, it is a concise summary of Viking history, told in a way that uses the best sources available at the time - ecclesiastical ones.

This book is in the mainstream of Guizot's thinking on history and civilization, which highlights the role of Christianity, not as a moral force but as an organizing one. In the first millennium, religion was as much about politics as it was about belief, and this book shows exactly how that worked in the Viking world. ( )