How Vikings Reshaped Europe

This ambitious yet unconvincing history tracks the influence of Nordic culture on the world from the Bronze Age to the rise of Silicon Valley. The “Viking heart,” according to historian Herman (How the Scots Invented the World), is “a frame of mind, a way of life” that has been passed down through centuries of the Scandinavian diaspora, and is defined by the “willingness to venture out into the complete unknown... with the confidence that somewhere on the other side of the far horizon, freedom and a new home await.” He profiles Nordic leaders including Danish king Canute the Great, who ruled both Denmark and England in the 11th century, and General Motors CEO William Knudsen, who spearheaded FDR’s efforts to develop an “arsenal of democracy” in the run-up to WWII.