Reviews:
"Wide-ranging and thorough, attractively presented and reasonably priced, Viking Kings is an essential read for anyone interested in the Viking Age in the British Isles." History 2008

"[Downham] gives us the history of the dynasty from contemporary and near contemporary sources and brings to bear the fruits of thirty years intense scholarship that has emerged since Smyth wrote, a period in which the study of Early Insular History has been revolutionised. In addition to the blow by blow account of the dynasty’s deeds, which forms the bulk of the narrative, Downham has also appended a prosopography of 121 Scandinavian leaders active in the Insular World in the period, citing all the primary sources which mention each. This appendix will doubtless be a godsend to scholar and student alike." Early Medieval Europe

"Students of the Viking Age from any discipline need to be fully versed in its historical record.
This book ably provides a well-researched and solid account of that record in Britain and Ireland, and should be valued as both a rich source and an interesting read." Medieval Archeology

"a highly successful work that represents the most substantial advance in the study of the dynasty of I´varr in a generation." Scandinavian Journal of History