A magnetic book on the North Sea brimming with rollicking adventures, vivid characters and witty observations

Between the fall of Rome and the dawn of the Enlightenment, northern Europe went from barbaric outpost to being the centre of everything, building the world we know. We have ignored its impact, but the reason is the North Sea- boats carried food and raw materials but also new ideas and information. Seafarers raided and killed but also settled and coupled, bringing the tastes and technologies that would make us modern. This is the story of the saints and spies, fishermen and pirates, traders and marauders whose journeys changed everything.