Viking

Here we have Dorling Kindersley’s trademark crisp photographic approach to history. The reconstruction of a Viking village at Murton Park, near York, is the setting for much of the subject matter detailed for key stage 2 children. The reader is invited to, ‘open your eyes to a world of discovery’. The photography is excellent, both of the people and close-ups of ancient artefacts. There is a purely factual approach here to the subject matter, no named fictional characters to take the reader back to the past. Each spread takes an aspect of Viking life, such as Weapons and Warriors, Viking Jewellery, Women and Children, Living Off the Land. Short paragraphs are further subtitled to provide bite-sized chunks of information to be easily digested. The specialist consultant, Angus Kostam, is a historian born on the Orkney Islands, whose population is descended largely from Vikings.