From the 9th to the 13th centuries, the Norse Earls of Orkney ruled their own semi-autonomous empire with lands in mainland Scotland and its Western Isles. At the same time, they owed a nominal allegiance to the kings of Norway. At the height of their power in the 11th century, they controlled a 500-mile swathe of territory, stretching from Shetland down to the Isle of Man.

From their base in Orkney, these Norse Earls and their followers led Viking raids and military expeditions around the British Isles, and sometimes ventured even further afield. For over four centuries their warriors and longships battled alongside Scandinavian kings and rebels, and as Norse kingmakers they sometimes paid the ultimate price for their prominence in international affairs. The earls of Orkney were the key players in Viking Britain.

In Lords of the Salt Road, Orkney-based historian Angus Konstam draws on a wide range of historical sources, using Celtic-Scottish, Irish, Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon chronicles to tell this spellbinding tale of love, war, triumph, tragedy, treachery, murder, rebellion and greed.