Boats carried food and raw materials, but also new ideas and information. The water was dangerous, but it was far easier than struggling over land so it was the sea that brought people together. We owe this transformation to the tides and storms of the North Sea. A thousand years later, it was the heart of global empires and the home of science, art, enlightenment and money. When the Roman Empire retreated, northern Europe was a barbarian outpost at the very edge of everything. Magnificent' Jerry Brotton, author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps This is a story of saints and spies, of fishermen and pirates, traders and marauders - and of how their wild and daring journeys across the North Sea built the world we know. 'An utterly beguiling journey into the dark ages of the north sea. Featured in New York Times: 100 Notable Books of 2015 Michael Pye's The Edge of the World is an epic adventure: from the Vikings to the Enlightenment, from barbaric outpost to global centre, it tells the amazing story of northern Europe's transformation by sea.
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