Gareth Williams – лучшие книги

Between the late 8th and late 11th century Viking warriors had a massive impact not just in northern Europe, but across a huge arc from the western Mediterranean round through northern Europe and the Baltic to the Middle East and Central Asia. Their success depended in part on their skills in battle, their unique sense of strategic mobility, and on the quality of their weapons and equipment. Written by an expert on early medieval weaponry, this book examines the weapons of the typical Viking warrior, dispels some of the myths of the popular image, such as double-headed axes, and considers the range of weapons that actually underpinned the Vikings' success including bows and arrows.

Drawing upon contemporary literary and historical accounts from the North Atlantic to the Arab world, surviving examples of weapons and armour, and practical experimentation and reconstructions by modern weapon-smiths and re-enactors, this study casts new light on how Viking weapons were made and used in battle.

In the two centuries before the Norman invasion of England, Anglo-Saxon and Viking forces clashed repeatedly in battle, with mixed success for both sides. After the Vikings defeated three out of the four great Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and came close to defeating the fourth in the 860s and 870s, they conquered and settled large areas of England. The surviving West Saxon kingdom in turn conquered the Viking settlements in England to create the first unified English kingdom in the mid-10th century, before a new wave of Viking raids led to the Danish conquest of England in 1016. Fifty years later a Norwegian army sought to conquer England again, under the leadership of the celebrated Viking warrior Harald Hard-Counsel. His defeat at Stamford Bridge in 1066 is often seen as the end of the Viking age in England.

The two sides are seen as very different in popular perceptions, but how much are these differences based on fact, and how much on the bias of the surviving contemporary accounts and later historical traditions? And how far did the two sides learn from each other in the course of 200 years of conflict? Drawing upon historical accounts from both English and Scandinavian sources, and on archaeological evidence, Gareth Williams presents a detailed comparison of the weaponry, tactics, strategies and underlying military organization of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, and considers the developments which took place on both sides between the arrival of the Vikings' 'Great Raiding Army' in 865 and the battle of Stamford Bridge.

Angel of Death is a lively and powerful account of our battle against smallpox, the only disease that mankind has successfully eradicated from the planet. By weaving previously unrecorded voices in with the personal experiences of colourful historical figures such as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Edward Jenner, Gareth Williams brings alive one of the most exciting success stories in the history of medicine. His book also gives original and engaging insights into the anti-vaccination campaigns which remain active today, and into the many unlearned lessons of smallpox. Angel of Death will appeal to all those moved by the excitement of discovery and stories of people fighting against adversity, and to anyone interested in history or medicine.