Queen Emma and the Vikings: A History of Power, Love, and Greed in 11th-Century England

by Harriet O'Brien

Overview

A stunning history of power, love and greed in 11th-century England - the remarkable story of Queen Emma and the Vikings

'Harriet O'Brien recreates this intriguing and complex world with skill and imagination' Daily Telegraph
'O'Brien's story is a dramatic one, and her Queen Emma a commanding, shrewd and manipulative figure ... genuinely powerful' Guardian

Emma was one of England's most remarkable queens: a formidable woman who made her mark on a Europe beset by Vikings. By birth a Norman, she married and outlived two kings of England and witnessed the coronations of two of her sons: Harthcnut the Viking and Edward the Confessor. She became an unscrupulous political player and was diversely regarded as a generous Christian patron, the admired co-regent of the nation, and a ruthlessly Machiavellian mother.

She was, above all, a survivor: her life was punctuated by dramatic falls, all of which she overcame. Her story is one of power, politics, love, greed and scandal in an England caught between the Dark Ages and the Norman invasion of 1066.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596918702
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/01/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	269,349
File size:	985 KB

About the Author

Harriet O'Brien is a journalist based in London. She has written for the Independent and Condé Nast Traveler, among other publications. This is her second book.

Harriet O'Brien is a writer and editor working in London for a range of newspapers and magazines including The Independent and Conde Nast Traveller. Her first book, Forgotton Land - a Rediscovery of Burma won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award in 1991.