{"product_id":"9781590173466","title":"The Long Ships","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA beloved Viking saga and masterpiece of historical fiction, \u003ci\u003eThe Long Ships\u003c\/i\u003e is a high spirited adventure that stretches from Scandinavia to Spain, England, Ireland, and beyond. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrans Gunnar Bengtsson’s \u003ci\u003eThe Long Ships\u003c\/i\u003e resurrects the fantastic world of the tenth  century AD when the Vikings roamed and rampaged from the northern fastnesses of Scandinavia  down to the Mediterranean. Bengtsson’s hero, Red Orm—canny, courageous, and above  all lucky—is only a boy when he is abducted from his Danish home by the Vikings and  made to take his place at the oars of their dragon-prowed ships. Orm is then captured  by the Moors in Spain, where he is initiated into the pleasures of the senses and  fights for the Caliph of Cordova. Escaping from captivity, Orm washes up in Ireland,  where he marvels at those epicene creatures, the Christian monks, and from which  he then moves on to play an ever more important part in the intrigues of the various  Scandinavian kings and clans and dependencies. Eventually, Orm contributes to the  Viking defeat of the army of the king of England and returns home an off-the-cuff  Christian and a very rich man, though back on his native turf new trials and tribulations  will test his cunning and determination. Packed with pitched battles and blood feuds  and told throughout with wit and high spirits, Bengtsson’s book is a splendid adventure  that features one of the most unexpectedly winning heroes in modern fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New York Review Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43074999189565,"sku":"9781590173466","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0603\/0838\/9949\/files\/9781590173466_p0.jpg?v=1774931456","url":"https:\/\/www.tatteredcover.com\/products\/9781590173466","provider":"Tattered Cover","version":"1.0","type":"link"}