There is something about winter that brings Canadians to images of warm fires, soft blankets and thick books.  There is also something about Vikings that evokes frost, cold, and darkness.  For our winter non-fiction feature, therefore, it seemed appropriate that we have choose "Children of Ash and Elm" by Neil Price.

This book is a thorough re-examination of both what the public and academia "know" about Vikings.  Drawing from archaeological and historical sources (some from much further afield than you would think), Dr Price challenges the perceptions of those Norse who moved out of Scandanavia and into the outside world.  He concisely (yes, even at 550 pages it is concise) and entertainingly moves through each chapter dispensing with old tropes and providing new details on a wide breadth of subject regarding these ancient peoples.  

Disclosure: Dr Price was the head of Archaeology when Michael was still a student at Aberdeen.  He is one of the leading proponents of the Collateral Biography theory Michael used in his PhD, and was the internal invigilator on his PhD defense.