Book Launch of Sailing Free

Part of the Politics and Society Book Launch Series at St Mary’s University.

This event will see the launch of Sailing Free: The saga of Kári the Icelander by Gabriel Stein and John Nugée, a gripping tale of law and justice, liberty and freedom, and trade and adventure in medieval Iceland.

Sailing Free: The saga of Kári the Icelander follows the life of Kári Ragnarsson, a venturous shipowner and merchant, and his brother Guðmundr, who dutifully takes over the family farm, as they traverse adulthood against a backdrop of 11th century Iceland. Kári’s business takes him across the northern seas to Orkney, Scotland and England, where he learns the ways of trading in the Viking world, while Guðmundr gets caught up in a complicated love triangle that becomes a dispute with a local chieftain and threatens to ruin his family. All around greedy neighbours seek to amass power and subvert Iceland’s ancient liberties; feuds are common and justice is being eroded and abused by those in charge.

An unexpected storm drives Kári and his men to distant lands, where he falls foul of a powerful king and is forced to fight for his life and his freedom overseas, before returning to Iceland to find himself having to defend the very same rights of his brother. As the Church and the Free State lock horns over Iceland’s legal customs and way of life, Kári is compelled to defend much more than his family’s fortunes.

Through the medium of a traditional-style family saga, authors Stein and Nugée use the history of the Icelandic Commonwealth to explore questions of politics, religion and sovereignty, themes which are just as relevant today as they were a thousand years ago.

Gabriel Stein and John Nugée are Associate Lecturers of EU Studies at St Mary’s University Twickenham

Vera Kichanova is an urban economist, journalist, first libertarian ever elected to public office in Russia.

This event can be attended in-person or online. It is free to attend, but you will need to register your place:

• Register to attend in-person
• Register to attend online via Zoom