I highly recommend this book for someone who wishes to have a greater understanding of social history and economy in medieval Iceland. Written by an anthropologist it uses a good combination of historical record, written literature (sagas) and anthropological technique to describe the economic conditions of Iceland during this period.

It is a very short book but is nice to have for the collection:

Chapters include: Production Chiefly Consumption Politics Exchange Kinship, Church, and King Ideology

In the conclusion it has a nice justification for the use of the saga as source for social information.

The Inca culture is a very great sourece for the human being. But until now we do not know it very much. We need more and more information to know the true Inca. How ? The Inca is not only the Inca trail or the Machu Picchu, nor the stone only, The trational food, the music, the festive, their language (not the Spanish) ,all of those are the true Inca culture. But we do not see any one investigate it. What is pachamama? It mean the origin of the earth,the source of the earth,the mother of the earth. Where is the Inca now? We need to know the reeason why it disappeared. Maybe the answers will save our future.

Well known for his picture post-card views of Scotland, Colin Baxter has taken his work to a more satisfying level with this book of his Iceland photographs. Accumulated over many years' visits -this book provides an invaluable catalouge of what to see should you be visiting this unique country. Photographers and those with a special interest in landscape will find the map showing the photo locations invaluable. Good design, adequate printing, lots of photos, some very good indeed. Icelandair should be very pleased with its impact on tourism: very low Puffin count too!

Academic tome offers some interesting insights into 19th and 20th century Spiritualism in Iceland given Iceland's unique religious history. A bit dry but worth the effort for anyone with this special interest.- Roberta Olsen Kyle, Eye on Iceland

The weight of locker room politics and vicarious parental ambitions are a tough burden to place on the shoulders of nine-year-olds. Yet, success and failure even in the MTHL is enough to drive ordinarily sane adults into complete lunatics. Their children are doomed to carry the load.

This book follows three fictional families with children in the Metro Toronto Hockey League. It realistically shows the sacrifices families make, who succeeds, and how kids get weeded out of the system. The dialogue was a little akward at times, but the stories absorb the reader. I'm tempted to read this book again.

This book vividly describes, how volcanos erupt, well known eruptions, scientists who study volcanos etc.. Living in Hawai'i I have come to enjoy the fascinating events that occur when a volcano erupts. Kilauea is the only active volcano in the state of Hawai'i, and this book shows great graphics and gives detailed inserts by scientists. It describes the birth of an island, why volcanoes erupt and much much more...if you're one who likes adventure this is the book for you.

This book was aimed to be read by a younger audience (kids ages 7-14). It covers information about formation of the island and the colonization of the island in a simple written manner. I also like the way it divides the book into 11 chapters and adds something about the poetic Edda at the start of each chapter to relay how mythology interplays with realistic events like the formation of such an island. But as an adult reader, I still had more questions after I finished the book.

The book does not go in depth about the geological nature of the island. Yes, the island was formed from a volcanic eruption, but what is the nature and quality of the land? Will it be settled by Man as it has been by birds and plant-life? What is the future of such an island? (The book implies at the end that it will be destroyed, but does not tell the reader the specifics of how/when/why). I was looking to answer such questions more in depth about this new island.

The stength of this book lies in its remarkable pictures. If only you could get some of these astonishing pictures as a poster and hang them up on your walls...You would stare at them in awe for hours!

As far as buying it...it would be worth your money if you have kids who like volcanos or like to read because they would be able to appreciate it more. If not, it would be worth getting it to read at a public library or a used book. I would not spend too much money obtaining it.

This humorous "guide" gives insight to the character and behavior of the Icelanders. Everything from knitting to politics is covered. Some of the information given in this book is now outdated, such as the restrictions on the importation of dairy products. These tend to be minor details and do not take away from the quality of the book. No pictures.

Icelandic history is divided into three epochs: (1) the Saga Period, from the beginnings of settlement to the surrender of sovereignty in 1262; (2) the Colonial Period, under the thumb of first Norway and then Denmark, during which Iceland almost disappears from the world stage; and (3) the Period of Independence, from approximately 1809 to the present. In his HISTORY, Gunnar Karlsson adds a fourth epoch: the 20th century.

Thanks to the great Icelandic sagas of the 13th Century, we know a great deal about the first period. (Some of the excitement comes across in Magnus Magnusson's little gem of a book entitled ICELAND SAGA.) Then, once Iceland lost her sovereignty in hopes of putting an end to strife between conflicting factions, she seemingly disappeared from history. Except, unfortunately, as a victim of catacylsmic volcanic eruptions, smallpox, plague, and an uncaring Danish administration.

The 19th Century saw a simultaneous enlightenment in Denmark's stewardship of Iceland and a growingly successful independence movement among Icelanders. Between the two World Wars, Iceland became an independent state of some promise and no longer the Albania of the North Atlantic.

There are several approaches to chronicling such an unusual history. Karlsson takes a heavily economically and statistically oriented approach, such that one cringes at the profusion of percent signs and dates and neat little tables. Suddenly, the author will abruptly switch gears and drop into a personal mode: "Most important of these wield yielders was the Iceland moss ... a lichen that grows on inland heaths. It looks extremely unappetizing -- brownish and dry, like a shrivelled piece of skin.... I personally salivate when I think about it cooked in milk."

Another time, he interjects: "I myself did not live in a turf house for longer than a month and was unfortunately too young to remember much about it. But in my youth ... I sometimes visied such houses, which were dry, warm, clean, and reasonably bright."

One wishes to encounter this reminiscing Gunnar Karlsson more frequently than the brownish, dry, shrivelled statistician that he so often resembles. A more anecdotal approach would have livened this book up considerably, relegating most of the economic facts to out-of-the-way footnotes. I would like to have met the Icelander at various stages of his country's history, but Karlsson restrains himself from introducing him. More's the pity, because Karlsson obviously knows his subject well.

Gunnar Karlsson's book is a great introduction to Icelandic history. It is wonderful for the curious reader. However, as a scholarly work, it is lacking in precise details. In comparison to Knut Gjerset's History of Iceland, it is an easier read but with less information. While Karlsson touches upon a vareity of topics, he does not delve into them at great depth. However, this book would be great to find a topic that the reader would like to research or learn more about just because the nature of the book gives such a broad overview.

The first thing I saw when I opened my copy of this guide was the tip-in color map. It was a beautiful, the best I've seen available in a guidebook; and I wasted no time in removing it from the book.

When I opened the guide, my heart sank. (The guide without the map merits only a single star.) There is no info on accommodations; restaurant info is limited to a handful of suggestions; and the coupons at the end are strictly two for one -- no help for someone like me traveling solo. The little one-square-inch maps scattered throughout the book are useful only with a powerful magnifier.

If you take this to Iceland as your only guide, you will probably not have a good trip. If you take it at all, it is only excess weight. My recommendation: Stick with the newest Lonely Planet guide.

This book is basically what it says it is. The coupons were very useful, and had a range of stuff; from the big attractions like the Blue Lagoon (Bláa Lonið) to more 'niche' like the Icelandic Phallological Museum. The maps were good too, although lacking a street index. The text describes attractions in just enough detail to keep you interested without getting dull; often punctuated with a story or legend about a place. And the text describes places whether there is a coupon for it or not, in just as much detail: With hours, phone numbers, addresses, and so on. I did not have any trouble redeeming any of the coupons, even though i used the 2000 edition in early 2001. If you go, get this book!