Queen Emma and the Vikings

Harriet O'Brien is a writer and editor working in London for a range of newspapers and magazines including The Independent and Conde Nast Traveller. Her first book, Forgotton Land - a Rediscovery of Burma won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award in 1991.

'Harriet O'Brien recreates this intriguing and complex world with skill and imagination' David Horspool, Daily Telegraph 'O'Brien's story is a dramatic one, and her Queen Emma a commanding, shrewd and manipulative figure ... genuinely powerful' Guardian 'The story of a determined, manipulative and forceful woman ... the account of her life reveals England as a rich nation with strong Christian tradition' History Today 'This is a lean and muscular narrative, often elegantly so ... She gives a potent reminder of how pivotal a role women could play even in such an ostensibly macho society - and of how contingent an entity England really is' Helen Castor, Guardian