Books by Cat Jarman
“Another new history book that’s reliant on other disciplines is the latest by Cat Jarman, a bioarchaeologist. In her book, The Bone Chests: Unlocking the Secrets of the Anglo Saxons, she turns her attention to chests at Winchester Cathedral that are purported to contain the bones of various kings—and one queen, Emma—of the kingdoms that sprang up in the British Isles after the Romans left. Winchester was in Wessex, the kingdom of the West Saxons, and one of the more powerful ones. As in her previous book…Jarman likes to combine straight history with imagining what it must have been like. The new knowledge that DNA brings to this period, when England was so much in flux, is fascinating.” Read more...
Notable Nonfiction of Fall 2023
Sophie Roell, Journalist
River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads
by Cat Jarman
That many of the things we thought we knew about the Vikings is wrong was revealed to us in our Five Books interview about the Vikings with medieval historian Eleanor Barraclough in 2016. With our interest in Vikings awakened, it was exciting to see a book called River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads published in February 2021. River Kings is by archaeologist Dr Cat Jarman, who is a senior adviser to the new Museum of the Viking Age in Oslo. Specifically, she is a bioarchaeologist, which means she uses forensic tools—like isotope analysis, carbon dating, and DNA analysis—to try and figure out what happened to bodies buried more than a millennium ago. The book is absolutely mesmerizing, both about the techniques she deploys, and the story she tells about the Viking skeletons she uses those techniques on.
Interviews where books by Cat Jarman were recommended
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1
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
by George Saunders -
2
Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing
by Chris Bail -
3
Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy
by Anne Sebba -
4
Career and Family: Women’s Century-Long Journey toward Equity
by Claudia Goldin -
5
River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads
by Cat Jarman
The Best Nonfiction Books of 2021, recommended by Sophie Roell
The Best Nonfiction Books of 2021, recommended by Sophie Roell
As the Covid pandemic gets another lease of life with the appearance of the omicron variant, those of us spending additional time at home may need a few more books to read. Here, Five Books editor Sophie Roell shares some of her favourite nonfiction books of the year, from history to economics, lessons on how to write like Chekhov to the part each of us can play in reducing political polarization.
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1
Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age
by Tom Holland -
2
Vergil: The Poet's Life
by Sarah Ruden -
3
Ian Fleming: The Complete Man
by Nicholas Shakespeare -
4
The Secret Lives of Numbers: A Global History of Mathematics & its Unsung Trailblazers
by Kate Kitagawa & Timothy Revell -
5
The Chile Project: The Story of the Chicago Boys and the Downfall of Neoliberalism
by Sebastian Edwards
Notable Nonfiction of Fall 2023, recommended by Sophie Roell
Notable Nonfiction of Fall 2023, recommended by Sophie Roell
As summer collapses into fall across the northern hemisphere, Five Books editor Sophie Roell takes a look at the nonfiction books that have been published over the last three months. Reading serious nonfiction books remains the easiest way to get up to speed on not only things you’re already interested in, but lots of things you didn’t know you didn’t know.
