What if not the Roman Empire but the Lowlands were at the heart of Europe’s development in the Middle Ages? In “The Edge of the World”, Michael Pye sets out to answer this question and sheds light on the North Sea region’s lesser-known (and somewhat foggy) history. He rather convincingly claims that we owe a great deal to the Vikings, Frisians, or the beguines of medieval Flanders, who largely contributed to shaping the world we live in today. Pye combines sound research and great storytelling and invites you to re-think the role of the North Sea region in shaping Western society.

This is a story of saints and spies, of anglers and pirates, traders and marauders - and of how their wild and daring journeys across the North Sea built the world we know.

When the Roman Empire retreated, northern Europe was a barbarian outpost at the very edge of everything. A thousand years later, it was the heart of global empires and the home of science, art, enlightenment and money. We owe this transformation to the tides and storms of the North Sea.

Boats carried food and raw materials, but also new ideas and information. The seafarers raided, ruined and killed, but they also settled and coupled. With them they brought new tastes and technologies - books, science, clothes, paintings and machines. Drawing on an astonishing breadth of learning and packed with human stories and revelations, this is the epic drama of how we came to be who we are.

'Bristling, wide-ranged and big-themed . . . at its most meaningful, history involves a good deal of art and storytelling. Pye's book is full of both' Russell Shorto, New York Times

'For anyone, like this reviewer, who is tired of medieval history as a chronicle of kings and kingdoms, knights and ladies, monks and heretics, The Edge of the World provides a welcome respite' Prof Patrick J Geary, Wall Street Journal

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