This is a fantastically gripping history of the cultures that bordered the North Sea from the Middle Ages into the early modern era—the Norse, the Frisians, the Goths, the Anglo-Saxons—and their oft-overlooked role in shaping today’s world. We read about a Saxon retelling of the Gospels in which Jesus drinks mead and bursts from a barrow mound; the Varangian women who could legally spear their rapists with a sword through the heart; and an attempt by Cambridge University to forge a document stating that King Arthur had embraced the Christian religion because of Cambridge professors. In the process Pye explains how justice, trade, science, and morals developed into recognizable forms; how the Vikings came to embrace the ideal of family life; and how digging for peat moss changed global commerce forever. It’s rare to encounter a book that juggles so many topics and does it in such a compelling way. For anyone with an interest in the world, this book is a gift.