Vikings in the East From Vladimir the Great to Vladimir Putin – The Origins of a Contested Legacy in Russia and Ukraine
In Western Europe, we typically associate Vikings with the storm-tossed waters of the North Sea and the North Atlantic, the deep Scandinavian fjords and the attacks on the monasteries and settlements of north-western Europe. This popular image rarely includes the river systems of Russia and Ukraine, the wide sweep of the Eurasian steppe, the far shores of the Caspian Sea, the incense and rituals of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the high walls and towers of the city of Constantinople. Yet for many Viking raiders, traders and settlers, it was the road to the East that beckoned.
These Viking adventurers founded the Norse–Slavic dynasties of the Rus, which are entangled in the bitterly contested origin myths of Russia and Ukraine. The Rus were the first community in the region to convert to Christianity – in its Eastern Orthodox form – and so they are at the heart of the concept of ‘Holy Russia’. Russian rulers have frequently referenced these Norse origins when trying to enhance their power and secure control over the Ukrainian lands, most recently demonstrated by Vladimir Putin as his justification for seizing Crimea and invading Ukraine.
In this fascinating and timely book, historian Martyn Whittock explores the important but often misunderstood and manipulated role played by the Vikings in the origins of Russian power, the deadly consequences of which we are still living with today.
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Reviews
“When DNA testing became more available in Eastern Europe, many were amazed to find that they had Icelandic progenitors. This was the Viking–Slav inheritance, wickedly invoked by Vladimir Putin as a reason to reunite Russia and Ukraine and wage war. The story of the Rus settlement at Kyiv and all the raiding, pillaging and enslaving that followed is a fascinating tale but serves as the foundation myth of Mother Russia. Here it is told with verve and accuracy, in a book that casts light on a dark corner of the globe.”
Geoffrey Robertson KC, author of The Trial of Vladimir Putin
“In this timely and important book, Martyn Whittock makes the history of the Kyivan Rus – the Vikings of the East of his title – accessible to a wider audience for the first time. In engaging prose, he brings to life the deep historical roots of present conflicts over Ukraine and Crimea. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the medieval history of the region and how this has been manipulated in the hands of modern politicians.”
Levi Roach, Professor of Medieval History and Diplomatic, University of Exeter
“How did Viking raiders in the ninth century shape the geopolitics of the twenty-first? As this lively but carefully researched book shows, the origins of what are now both Russia and Ukraine are to be found in the often larger-than-life adventures and ambitions of Norse freebooters who even raided as far as distant Constantinople.”
Professor Mark Galeotti, author of A Short History of Russia, Forged in War: A Military History of Russia from its Beginnings to Today and Putin’s Wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine
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- Hardback, 304 pages
- ISBN: 9781785909054
- 24 April 2025
- £22.00
- eBook
- ISBN: 9781837360079
- 24 April 2025
- £16.99