Keith Durham

The history of the Vikings is bloody and eventful, and Viking warriors capture the popular imagination to this day. They made history, establishing the dukedom of Normandy, providing the Byzantine Emperors’ bodyguard and landing on the shores of America 500 years before Columbus. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs and original Osprey artwork, this book presents a new window into their way of life including detailed studies of the Hersir, the raiding warrior of the Viking world, and the legendary Viking longship.

Stretching from the North Sea to the Solway Firth, the Border region has a sharply diverse landscape and was a battleground for over 300 years as the English and Scottish monarchs encouraged their subjects to conduct raids across their respective borders. This Warrior title will detail how this narrow strip of land influenced the Borderer's way of life in times of war. Covering every aspect of militant life, from the choice of weapons and armour to the building of fortified houses, this book gives the readers a chance to understand what it must have been like to live life in a late-medieval war zone.

A detailed examination of the Border fortresses involved in raids, or ‘reives’, on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border in the 13th - 17th centuries.In the year 1296, Edward I of England launched a series of vicious raids across the Anglo-Scottish Border in his attempt to annexe Scotland. The Scots retaliated and the two countries were plunged into 300 years of war in which the Borderland became the frontline and raiding, or 'reiving,' encouraged by both sides, became a way of life. Keith Durham examines the Border fortresses, ranging from small, well-defended castles to imposing tower houses, or 'peles,' and a variety of fortified farmhouses known as 'bastles.' He also investigates the many churches that were strengthened against attack and in times of trouble served as sanctuaries for their congregations. Packed with full-colour photographs and detailed cut-away artwork, this is an ideal historical commentary for any tourist visiting the sites that are dotted across the whole of the Border region.

This title charts the development of the Viking longship, tracing its evolution from the one-man canoe of the Scandinavian Stone Age, through the 'clinker' or wood -built-ships of 200 BC into the recognisable longboats of the 4th century AD. From this point onwards, the Viking Longship developed into the pre-eminent raider and trader in the North Sea and the Baltic, and ventured as far afield as the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic and modern-day Russia. Keith Durham uses modern reconstructions, original sources, translations and archaeological evidence to render a vivid picture of the vessels that dominated the seaways of Scandinavia, founded colonies on Iceland, Greenland and the New World and terrorised the coastlines of northern Europe. This title also covers the development of Norman vessels, including the mighty invasion fleet of William the Conqueror.

This is an account of the uniforms, insignia, weaponry, campaigns and military practices of the border reivers, the guerrilla soldiers who ran wild in the Marches of England and Scotland between the 13th and 17th centuries, and who for a while produced the best cavalry of their time, playing a decisive role in such battles as Flodden and Solway Moss.