"This is a highly original — and highly convincing — reconstruction of the tenth-century Norse voyages of exploration and piracy which resulted in the settlement of Greenland and the discovery of North America. Inevitably Mowat's material is controversial, since more than thirty separate theories have been advanced regarding the location of leif Eriksson's Vinland the Good, to name only one example. But this massive and intricate book is not only provocative and highly readable, it unfolds as a compelling narrative. The knottier arguments are relegated to a diverting group of appendices, and the book is handsomely illustrated with maps and drawings. The terse, harsh saga accounts are fleshed out with vivid detail and common-sense interpretations based on Mowat's long experience of the northern regions."-- from publisher.