Customer Reviews (4)

It is a little childish but otherwise.....
THE BARBARIANS by Tim Newark.

The story of the various barbaric hordes that ravaged Western civilization precipitating the fall of the Roman Empire and there after for roughly the next several hundred years.The Huns, the Vandals, the Goths, the Muslims, the Vikings, the Magyars and the Mongols are all covered in what is a rather cursory, shallow and childishly revistionistic manner. Rather like a cliffnotes version of Gibbon's DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.Overtly Pro-Muslim. Covertly anti-Christian. We learn that the Muslims, for example, were just so nifty and keen that Jews and Christians were giddily happy to be conquered by them and could not wait to convert to Islam.Islam is, of course, the religion of peace who would never harm the chin hair of a goat.Somehow they managed to reach the borders of France on a cloud of love until those stinking intolerant Europeans just said no.

Written in 1985 when Academia was doing everything it could to save the Soviet Union from that mean old defender of Western Civilization, Ronald Reagan so the author tries...and fails...to make a comparison between the Barbarians and the Soviet Union saying that the West's animus towards the Eastern invaders was really just a matter of perception and not motivated by a genuine concern over a genuine and serious menace.Once the West decided that the Barbarians were no longer really so bad, everything became all wonderful and happy.Better barbarian than dead and all that rot.
Yeah. Right.
The book is okay. Nothing special.
History for the cotton candy dayglow crowd.

"Empires being neither up nor down,do not fail. They change their appearance."

When I first saw this book,I thought it was a juvenile book for Middle schools.This impression came first from the cover which is an illustration of Middle Age Warriors on horseback.Something like you see on Sci-Fi or Fantasy books. Then the size.It is large,71/2"X10",and only 3/4 " thick,including hard covers.A quick thumb-thru indicated it had a lot of pictures and illustrations.I picked it up anyway.Although I read a lot of history,I am pretty weak on the history of the Middle Ages. I thought this book would give a simple overview of this period.Was I ever in for a surprise!!. This is an excellent history of this very long and complicated period.I does a good job of sorting out all those groups of people,and endless series of conflicts and invasions ,across all of Europe and the Middle East.Just looking at the cultures that rose and fell,it is little wonder it gets confusing.If you think this area of the world is complicated today, just imagine what it was during these 1500 years; when we had the: Alans,Anglo-Saxons,Arabs,Huns,Avars,Barbarians,Berbers,Bulgars,Bazentines,Romans,Carolingians,Celts,Danes,Franks,Gauls,Germans,Ostrogoths,Viaigoths,Greeks,Khazars,Magyars,Christians,Mongols,Moors,Norwegians,Slavs,Rus,Teutons,Vandals,Vikings,Wahshi and many others.
This part of the world has seen a continuing string of conflicts where oppression and domination has attempted to destroy Western Civilization. Forces are at work today with the same intent.The character,intents and cultures we have seen in the past have not gone away;and in fact are very active today.A study of this area and period is very helpful in trying to see what happens when evil forces are accomodated and allowed to succeed. It was not a pretty picture in the past and what is taking place today must be taken very seriously.
The book is very well written and the B&W and Color Artwork and Illustration are excellent and bring this history to life and make it more understandable.

Good Introduction
This title covers a very broad period in history (Rome's first clashes with Gauls and Germans all the way to the last of the Oriental hordes to attack Europe) but presents a good introduction to the subject for a reader with little or no experience in it.The first chapter, 'The Most Terrible of All' gives a brief account of the campaigns waged between the Late Romans, the Huns, and the Visigoths, including the decisive battle of Adrianople in the year 378.The second, 'Fear in the Forest' tells of Rome's wars with the Gauls and West-Germans, like the brutal slaughter of AD 9.Chapter three, 'Business as Usual' deals with the barbarian wars that saw the traditional 'fall of Rome' in 476.Chapter Four, 'The Empire Fights Back' tells the confusing but heroic story of Byzantine Wars in Italy under Belisarius and Narses.Chapter Five, 'The Force of God' tells of the early Arabs, the foundation of Islam, and the fall of the Sassanid Empire.'The Wolves of Wodan' tells the legendary story of the very-real Vikings and their campaigns against Byzantine, Celtic, French, and Arab foes.The Seventh and final chapter, 'The Relentless Plainsmen' tells of the Turkish and Mongol wars from the point of view of Eastern Europe.The text is supported with 16 color plates by Angus McBride, which capture the barbarians in realistic poses and expressions.

An excellent book on dark-ages Europe.
This book covers the various barbarian invaders of Europe, beginning with the Huns and Germans in the Fourth century and continuing through to theMongols. The book is written in an easy to read manner, and the excellentpictures in this book are crowned by 16 full-page pictures by theincomparable Angus McBride. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Classic Study
This study should probably be on the shelf of anyone interested in early Medieval Europe. ... Read more

Product Description
At a time when Europeans still longed to be Roman and were just learning to be Christian, two extraordinary holy women-Genovefa of Paris (ca. 420-502) and Brigit of Kildare (ca. 450-524)-began to roam their homelands.One of these saints raised an apostolic church in the imperial city that would become Paris.The other scavenged fragments of that dwindling empire for the foundations of a grand Roman basilica built deep in barbarian territory.Both brought Christianity and romanitas (Roman-ness) to their people.By examining the ruins of their cities and churches, the workings of their cults, and the many generations of their devotees, Lisa Bitel shows how Brigit and Genovefa helped northern Europeans map new religion onto familiar landscapes.Landscape with Two Saints tells the twin stories of these charismatic women but also explains how ordinary people lived through religious change at the very beginning of the Middle Ages.

Tales of ancient conversions on distant landscapes have much to teach us about lived and built religion, why people choose new beliefs, and how they act out those beliefs in meaningful ways.The combined history of Brigit and Genovefa explains not just how a couple of legendary peripatetic women could become targets of devotion, but how and where Europeans became Christian, and what it meant to them on a daily basis.The story of these two saintly cults-not just in the pages of manuscripts, but on the streets of cities, in the stones of cemeteries, and in the walls of churches-also demonstrates the pervasive influence of gender and ethnicity, as well as regional culture and material environment, on the whole process of religious change.Bitel contends that in the building blocks of their churches and the tracks they once traveled, Genovefa and Brigit show us what the written words of missionaries and theologians never can: the active participation of converts in the history of their own conversion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A brilliant analysis of early medieval Europe.
Bitel (Land of Women; Women in Medieval Europe, 400-1100) has written a dazzling book revealing the ways that two female saints helped to bring Christianity to barbarian Europe.The book is filled with delightful details and is a genuine page turner.Her accomplishment is all the more incredible given the difficulty of the source materials.This is, quite simply, a brilliant book that should be read by everyone with an interest in the history of medieval women, the history of Christianity, and the history of women. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Women Warlords
As has already been said, only the cover is illustrated by McBride, but the text makes it worth every penny anyway. The book consists of the following chapters:
The True Amazons-Warrior Women of the Sarmatians and Scythians
Amazons of the Jungle-Elite groups of female warriors in topical African and South American armies
Braver than her Husband-The stories of Artemisia and Zenobia, not warriors personally, but skilled leaders of them
Celtic Queens-The mythical account of Medb, as well as the real histories of the cunning Cartimandua and the vicious Boudica
Women of Christ-Aethelflaed, Matilda of Tuscany, and Eleanor of Aquitaine-women in the Middle Ages who led men and armies
Hundred Years War Women-Jeanne of Montfort, Christine de Pisan, and the famous Jeanne d'Arc, Joan of Arc

Angus McBride alert!
Simply put, the newer paperback edition of Women Warlords has only a cover by Angus McBride.And that's all!Since the book has his cover, technically I guess he is the illustrator, but there are no interior color plates usually found in books illustrated by Angus McBride, and for me half the value of these and the Osprey books are in the incredibly researched and painted color plates.

The hard bound edition published in the UK in 1989 by Blandford includes 16 full page color illustrations by McBride, in addition to the cover, which features a different portrait of Matilda of Tuscany than McBride painted for the interior.While there are no explanations of the weapons and battle dress shown in the plates, as in the Osprey books, the pictures of the outfits, weapons and historical figures, in dramatic and fighting poses , with backgrounds, make the early edition of Women Warlords among McBrides' better efforts.

So if you like the color illustrations by the cover artist of this book, don't buy this paperback edition.Search out the 1989 HARD BOUND book.

A good solid effort with some great Ilustartions
A subject that until now that has not been covered well. The author has done some solid work and coupled with McBride is well worth the price.

Some Soldiers, Some Generals
Newark gives a good analysis of what one might call the Amazon influence.Rather than just being about female generals, he gets down to the trenches, compiling the evidence for woman warriors among the Steppe tribes of Eurasia, in South America (the reason they called the one river the Amazon) and in Dahomey.Also, he makes plain the sociological change from the Medieval woman warlord like Aethelflaed of Mercia or Matilda of Tuscany -- a feudal noble defending her turf -- to the modern "Joan of Arc" image, of the idealistic woman of the people fighting out of patriotism.He does not cover any of the lower-level fighting women of Europe, however, nor the female warlords outside of Europe. ... Read more

Product Description
Why have not novelists raised the protest earlier? For this reason. Hitherto, owing to the stern necessity laid upon the modern seer for earning his bread, and, incidentally, for finding a publisher to assist him in promulgating his prophetic opinions, it has seldom happened that writers of exceptional aims have been able to proclaim to the world at large the things which they conceived to be best worth their telling it. Especially has this been the case in the province of fiction. Let me explain the situation. Most novels nowadays have to run as serials through magazines or newspapers; and the editors of these periodicals are timid to a degree which outsiders would hardly believe with regard to the fiction they admit into their pages. Endless spells surround them. This story or episode would annoy their Catholic readers; that one would repel their Wesleyan Methodist subscribers; such an incident is unfit for the perusal of the young person; such another would drive away the offended British matron. I do not myself believe there is any real ground for this excessive and, to be quite frank, somewhat ridiculous timidity. Incredible as it may seem to the ordinary editor, I am of opinion that it would be possible to tell the truth, and yet preserve the circulation. A first-class journal does not really suffer because two or three formalists or two or three bigots among its thousands of subscribers give it up for six weeks in a pet of ill-temper--and then take it on again. Still, the effect remains: it is almost impossible to get a novel printed in an English journal unless it is warranted to contain nothing at all to which anybody, however narrow, could possibly object, on any grounds whatever, religious, political, social, moral, or aesthetic. The romance that appeals to the average editor must say or hint at nothing at all that is not universally believed and received by everybody everywhere in this realm of Britain. But literature, as Thomas Hardy says with truth, is mainly the expression of souls in revolt. Hence the antagonism between literature and journalism.
... Read more

Product Description
In a work of splendid scholarship that reflects both a firm mastery of difficult sources and a keen intuition, one of Britain's foremost medievalists tells the story of the Christianization of Europe. It is a very large story, for conversion encompassed much more than religious belief. With it came enormous cultural change: Latin literacy and books, Roman notions of law and property, and the concept of town life, as well as new tastes in food, drink, and dress. Whether from faith or by force, from self-interest or by revelation, conversion had an immense impact that is with us even today. It is Richard Fletcher's achievement in this superb work that he makes that impact both felt and understood. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

an excellent resource for the specialist
Richard Fletcher has written a brilliant and comprehensive history of the expansion of Christianity in Europe following the collapse of the Roman Empire.Having a professional interest in the phenomena, this is the first resource I would recommend for those interested in the growth of the Church between 400 - 1100 and the gradual inter-marriage between religious and secular authority in the early and high middle ages.

The first half of the book was of most interest to me, as Fletcher discusses the relationship between the decaying Roman empire and the spread of Christianity.Much to my suprise, Christianity was initally "only for Romans", without much effort placed in bothering to convert the growing number of Germanic "barbarians" settling in western Europe.Over the course of the next two centuries, Fletcher does a marvelous job of explaining how a Mediterranean religion was gradually embraced by non-Latin peoples.(In a nutshell, the new arrivals borrowed extensively from Rome, including religion, before a real prosletizing movement began.)

The syncretism between pagan and Christian practices and beliefs was not addressed in as much detail as I had hoped, but Fletcher can be forgiven this as he does a remarkable job of connecting the historical dots between conversion of rulers and the gradual embrace of Christiantiy by the common folk.In spite of the dearth of source material and the obvious slant of Christian writers of the time, he lucidly shows conversion was not immeadiate, whole nor easy -his deductions, inferences and explainations as to how it happened, what the challenges faced by missionaries were, and what the short and long term consequenes were are vividly shown.That Europe as a whole was not Christianized by even as late as 1000 and even in "Christian" areas like the Rhine valley there were pockets of paganism may come as a surprise to many.Why this was and the close inter-relationship between church and state during this time is also clearly explained.

The book is really written with the specialist in mind: serious students of history or theology, or those with a burning desire to know intimate details about this issue in particular.It is exhaustively researched and cited and provides an excellent bibliography for even further reading.For the lay reader (or non-professional) interested in just *how* Christianity was adopted, the first 200 pages would be adequate, and even then with judicial skimming.WIth this caveat, I found it to be detailed, deep, and endlessly fascinating.

Too Specialized for a Generalist
This is a scholarly work from a fantastically informed writer. But it's very narrowly focused, very detailed, and very poorly signposted. I was looking for a general history of the spread of Christianity throughout Europe. But this book is narrowly focused on specific evangelistic missions and ecclesiastical details.

The detail would be way too much for a generalist in any case, but it would have been tolerable if the author were better at signposting his narrative---starting each section or paragraph with an old-fashioned "topic sentence" to tell you what he's going to talk about or what the point of the upcoming plethora of details is. He also doesn't provide enough introductory material on the various ethnic groups or geographic areas before his discussion of them, at least for a lay reader. You're pretty much plopped in media res and have to piece together what you can.

There was enough good information in the book to keep me slogging through it. But the broad picture of European conversion that I was looking for was not there, and the bits of the picture I got were awfully hard fought for. It would be nice to see the author work with a good editor for a condensed (in detail) and revised (in narrative) edition of this book.

Dry bones come mostly to life.
If you want to know how Europe became Christian (to the extent that it did), I can hardly recommend this book too highly.Fletcher is a judicious historian, a delightful conversationalist, and knows his stuff.I bought this book for background for my research on how Christians in settled civilizations related a new faith to ancient cultures.It was a lucky buy.Fletcher tells the story, and when possible, tells it well.I remember knocking on the door of the art historian two floors up to share some of the illustrations and points that went with them.

Some parts of the book remain a bit dry, though, when the story became repetitive or good sources seemed unavailable.(As Fletcher wryly puts it, "the historian of the dark ages must be thankful for the smallest mercies.")But covering a thousand years of obscurity is not alway merciful to the reader.It's hard to remember all the names, for one thing, and Fletcher sometimes forgets to remind us who is who.

I'm interested in is "fulfillment theology" -- the idea many Christians have had that the Gospel does not simply abolish, but fulfills, the deepest truths in pre-Christian cultures.The Christians Fletcher talks about seem to have been pretty flexible on culture and faith -- less rigid than many colonial missionaries would become -- but did not think about the issue so deeply as an Augustine, an Origin, a Ricci, or a Chesterton.Sometimes faith and culture come together in a daffy ad-hoc mixture: Anglo-Saxon kings once traced their lineages to the god Woden: after conversion, they traced it through Woden back to Adam!

Conversion seemed to run strongly along aristocratic family lines -- the theme comes up again and again.And while believers often had a very worldly notion of God's blessing, it was interesting to see how the upper classes sacrificed for their faith, as well as gain from it materially or politically.Fletcher shows that conversion was seldom entirely forced, but often was socially motivated.(Princess brides seemed to accomplish almost as much as missionaries.)All in all, a useful resource, and an excellent read.

filling some of the gaps in history
A lot of this book confirms stuff I already suspected; that Christianity had inherited the Greek-Roman civilization and this was an important tool in converting Germanic and Slavic chiefdoms (in which case the chiefdoms became statehoods); how missionaries targeted the kings who, after conversion, enforced the religion on their people; and that the `pagan threat' of the Vikings wasn't really all that `pagan'.

But I learned more after reading this book; the importance of monasticism in the conversion of the aristocracies under the kings; how converted kings waited a generation or two before destroying the indigenous religions; the importance of pilgrimage to the Christianized Irish and how that took them all over western Europe in their missionary efforts (before that, I was guilty of viewing the Irish church as isolated); how some pagan societies in eastern Europe emerged as statehoods (and thus not as attracted to Greek-Roman civilization as much as earlier converts were) and therefore had to be subdued by merciless crusading forces. Some of these crusades in eastern Europe reminded me of how the Americas was lost to the American Indians during Christendom's expansion across the Atlantic; rather than converting the natives, they were simply driven out of the land which was then colonized by western European Christians.

The downside to this book (tortuous writing about all these monks founding monasteries at boonies-shire and sticks-bury have already been addressed by other viewers) is that it doesn't tell us much about how Christianity affected the slave trade or its evolution into serfdom. I was under the impression that slavery dwindled in Europe after its Christianization but there are passages in this book that suggests that it continued for quite some time well into the middle ages, but he doesn't have much to say on the subject. He does mention Frankish monasteries that banned the murder and torture of slaves but that's about it.

I would also have liked to see more of how the monks who founded missionary monasteries affected the lower class populations but the author addresses this as much as the surviving evidence allows him to, so it's not his fault, but that evidence doesn't tell us much. We do learn though, that some people were bitter because the missionaries destroyed their former rites without giving them new ones (suggesting that religious devotion for the lower classes after their baptism was not a big deal to the religious leaders). There is also some slight evidence that the people did not like the strict abstinence preached and practiced by the religious leaders and were quick to notice any hypocrisy in the observance of these dogmas by these priests, monks, and missionaries.

Perhaps it might not be appropriate for this book, but I would like to have read more about heretical groups like the Albigensians in the chapter that discusses rival monotheisms (one of the rival monotheisms, Islam, was considered a heresy anyway). Perhaps there would be room for this if fewer pages were spent detailing the accounts of various monks founding monasteries.

Don't let these criticisms fool you into thinking that this book is not worth the read. It is very worth it. It doesn't completely close the gap between the modern age and antiquity but it does close a large portion of it. After reading this book, the middle ages will help mankind's timeline appear to flow much more smoothly and won't look so blocky.

Entertaining page-turner
This is easily one of the most entertaining, and readable, works on this topic I've encountered.Fletcher's style is witty, chatty, and accessible.I couldn't put this book down, and devoured it in 4 days.Every chapter was as good as the last, and I plan on re-reading it soon.His frequent references to prominent historical people and events help you really connect the material with other information about the area, giving you a more complete picture of the people and their times. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Barbarian, Bogatyr, Sweyn the Crusader, Anika the Warrior. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 25. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Barbarian is a term for an uncivilized person, often used pejoratively, either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage. In idiomatic or figurative usage, a "barbarian" may also be an individual reference to a brutal, cruel, warlike, insensitive person. The term originates in the ancient Greek civilization, meaning "anyone who is not Greek". Comparable notions are found in non-European civilizations. Routes taken by barbarian invaders, 5th century CEThe word "barbarian" comes into English from Medieval Latin , from Latin , from Latin , from the ancient Greek word . The word is onomatopoeic, the bar-bar representing the impression of random hubbub produced by hearing a spoken language that one cannot understand, similar to blah blah and babble in modern English. Related imitative forms are found in other Indo-European languages, such as Sanskrit barbara-, "stammering" or "curly-haired." Depending on its use, the term "barbarian" either described a foreign individual or tribe whose first language was not Greek or a Greek individual or tribe speaking Greek crudely. The Greeks used the term as they encountered scores of different foreign cultures, including the Egyptians, Persians, Celts, Germans, Phoenicians, Etruscans, and Carthaginians. It, in fact, became a common term to refer to all foreigners. However in various occasions, the term was also used by Greeks, especially the Athenians, to deride other Greek tribes and states (such as Epirotes, Eleans and Aeolic-speakers) in a pejorative and politically motivated man...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=113147 ... Read more

Product Description
Although barbarians in history is a topic of perennial interest, most studies have addressed a small number of groups for which continuous narratives can be constructed, such as the Franks, Goths, and Anglo-Saxons. This volume examines groups less accessible in the literary and archaeological evidence. Scholars from thirteen countries examine the history and archaeology of groups for whom literary evidence is too scant to contribute to current theoretical debates about ethnicity. Ranging from the Baltic and northern Caucasus to Spain and North Africa and over a time period from 300 to 900, the essays address three main themes. Why is a given barbarian group neglected? How much can we know about a group and in what ways can we bring up this information? What sorts of future research are necessary to extend or fill out our understanding? Some papers treat these questions organically. Others use case studies to establish what we know and how we can advance. Drawing on those separate lines of research, the conclusion proposes an alternative reading of Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, viewed not from the 'centre' of the privileged but from the 'periphery' of the neglected groups. Neglected Barbarians covers a longer time span than similar studies of this kind, while its frequent use of the newest archaeological evidence has no parallel in any book so far published in any language. ... Read more

Product Description
The sixth to ninth centuries saw a flowering of written laws among the early Germanic tribes. These laws include tables of fines for personal injury, designed to offer a legal, non-violent alternative to blood feud. Using these personal injury tariffs, The Body Legal in Barbarian Law examines a variety of issues, including the interrelationships between victims, perpetrators, and their families; the causes and results of wounds inflicted in daily life; the methods, successes, and failures of healing techniques; the processes of individual redress or public litigation; and the native and borrowed developments in the various 'barbarian' territories as they separated from the Roman Empire.

By applying the techniques of linguistic anthropology to the pre-history of medicine, anatomical knowledge, and law, Lisi Oliver has produced a remarkable study that sheds new light on early Germanic conceptions of the body in terms of medical value, physiological function, psychological worth, and social significance. ... Read more

Product Description
Formatted for the Kindle.

Excerpt:
NOTE

For the first time the story of the Goths recorded in the Getica of Jordanes, a Christian Goth who wrote his account in the year 551, probably in Constantinople, is now put in English form, as part of an edition of the Getica prepared by Mr. Mierow. Those who care for the romance of history will be charmed by this great tale of a lost cause and will not find the simple-hearted exaggerations of the eulogist of the Gothic race misleading. He pictured what he believed or wanted to believe, and his employment of fable and legend, as well as the naïve exhibition of his loyal prejudices, merely heightens the interest of his story. Those who want coldly scientific narrative should avoid reading Jordanes, but should likewise remember the truthful, words of Delbrueck:
“Légende und Poesie malen darum noch nicht falsch, weil sie mit anderen Färben malen als die Historie. Sie reden nur eine andere Sprache, und es handelt sich darum, aus dieser richtig ins Historische zu uebersetzen.”

Andrew F. West.
PREFACE

The following version of the Getica of Jordanes is based upon the text of Mommsen, as found in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi 5 (Berlin 1882). I have adhered closely to his spelling of proper names, especially the Gothic names, except in the case of a very few words which are in common use in another form (such as Gaiseric and Belisarius).

I wish to express my sincere thanks to Dean Andrew F. West of the Princeton Graduate School for his unfailing interest in my work. It was in one of his graduate courses that the translation was begun, three years ago, and at his suggestion that I undertook the composition of the thesis in its present form. He has read the entire treatise in the manuscript, and has been my constant adviser and critic. Thanks are also due to Dr. Charles G. Osgood of the English Department of Princeton University for reading the translation.

Charles C. Mierow. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great story, bad print
This text by Jordanes on the Goths is fascinating and surprisingly readable, considering it's >1450 years old. It tells the tale of the constant struggle between eastern and western Goths, Romans and a myriad other peoples. Jordanes was of Gothic descent himself and obviously exaggerates a great deal about their boldness and so forth, which is perhaps problematic for historians but not for a lay reader like myself.

The Origin and Deeds of the Goths (and this translation) are out of copyright and therefore exists as an eBook at Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org/files/14809/14809-8.txt). I bought this book by Hardpress in order to save myself printing all the pages, but was very disappointed with it for the following reason: on all even pages, the 9th line from the bottom is almost white! That is, the ink is missing! This makes it very hard to read and I sometimes had to go back to the eBook and fill in the words. Seems like "Hardpress" means "Hard to read"... ... Read more

Product Description
The decline of the Roman Empire was compounded by the spread westwards of tribes from Eastern Europe, settling areas from which the indigenous populations had been cleared by the spread of the power of Rome, while those populations themselves, notably the Celts, were pushed to the fringes of the former empire. These migrations of barbarian peoples, occurring between the fourth and ninth centuries, were among the most important changes in European society,but they left no historical record in the accepted sense. It is the recovery of the customs and beliefs of these populations that forms the common purpose of the studies in this book, for during these centuries the traits and attitudes developed which are at the root of present-day Europe: feudalism, the status level achieved by the merchant class, the beginnings of an ideology that led to the separation of church and state, the demise of slavery as an inefficient mode of production, the origin of national identities, and so forth. GIORGIO AUSENDA teaches at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Social Stress, San Marino. The Contributors are: GIORGIO AUSENDA, JULIAN D. RICHARDS, JOHN HINES, DAVID TURTON, ROSS BALZARETTI, DENNIS H. GREEN, SVEN SCHÜTTE, DAVID N. DUMVILLE, MORTEM AXBOE, IAN N. WOOD ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A great study in the period from Roman to Medieval times
This is a great study into the difficult field of the transition in Europe from the Roman Empire into the world of what we call the Middle Ages. It tries to combine such field as archaeology, ethnology, language, religionand history, with major contributors such as D.N.Dumville, D.H.Green,J.Hines, J.D.Richards and Ian Wood. Though the invividual contributions aregood enough a reason for acquiring this book, it is the discussions at theend of each paper that make it exemplary. These dicussions between theauthors are stimulating and challenging, giving far more insight to thereader into the matter discussed . I'll be looking forward to the secondvolume. ... Read more

Product Description
Warfare was an integral part of early medieval life. It had a character of its own and was neither a pale shadow of Roman military practice nor an insignificant precursor to the warfare of the central middle ages. This book recovers its distinctiveness, looking at warfare in a rounded context in the British Isles and Western Europe between the end of the Roman Empire and the break-up of the Carolingian Empire.
In this work, Guy Halsall relates warfare to many aspects of medieval life, economy, society and politics. He examines the raising and organization of early medieval armies and looks at the conduct of campaigns. The survey includes the equipment of warriors and the horrific experience of battle as well as an analysis of medieval fortifications and siege warfare. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The best scholarly treatment ever
As a professional historian who has done a lot of work on the 5th and 6th centuries in western Europe, let me say that I am extremely impressed with this work.

This book is the best and most careful survey of the evidence that has ever been written.Because it is about the early Middle Ages, it spends a fair amount of time telling the reader what we don't know and can't know.If that will drive you crazy, save your money.However, it is the only honest approach, and as a result the positive statements and the interpretations offered are worth all that much more.

Small gripe:One paragraph on Offa's dike and other large earthworks of the period?

Small warning:No maritime history.

Those interested in the way the Vikings transformed early medieval warfare will be particularly interested.

A vast and up-to-date bibliography which for a few readers will be worth the price of the book. ... Read more

Product Description
Ancient historians and soldiers tell savage firsthand tales of Viking invasions, Mongol hordes, epic battles, and barbarian depravities in this highly readable, illustrated anthology. History Book Club Main Selection color photo insert. Illustrations & maps. Timeline.Amazon.com Review
"When a Scythian overthrows his first enemy," Herodotus tellsus, "he drinks his blood; and presents the king with the heads of theenemies he has killed in battle; for if he brings a head, he sharesthe booty that they take, but not if he does not bring one. He skinsit in the following manner...." Well, OK, perhaps we don't need torevisit that part of the classics just now. But if you have ahankering for ancient and early-medieval history, Chronicles of theBarbarians will take you straight to the source. Among the otherGreek and Roman authors cited in this anthology are Livy, Polybius,Tacitus, and Julius Caesar; later sections provide eyewitness glimpsesof Genghis Khan ("in the subjugation of his foes his rigour andseverity had the taste of poison") and Tamerlane (who "loved bold andbrave soldiers, by whose aid opened the locks of terror and tore inpieces men like lions and through them and their battles overturnedthe heights of mountains"). One caveat: Edward Gibbon's passages onthe death of Alaric and the Vandal attack on Rome are very eloquent,but they are, properly speaking, out of place in a collection offirsthand reports. --Ron Hogan ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Barbarians
Bought this book 'used' but arrived in perfect, like new condition.It was also delivered very quickly.Thanks.

Romantic Writing.
Well Written, detailed, told with a little tongue in cheek empathy for the various peoples that were called barbarians. Yet,the author at times seems to ridicule the very authors he so often quotes. Since the barbarians did'nt choose to write their own histories, does not mean that their enemies who they attacked were lying in their descriptions." Indeed, numerous archaeological finds far often than not prove the Classical records to be true." Most scholars use to snicker at the very idea that the Amazons existed, they were proven wrong!

Daddy like
This book is awesome. There is nothing like getting history straight from the sources especially when that history is about peoples who were at best semi-literate. The sources used in this book are varied and impressive from Herodotus to Doukas with a lot of famous and not so famous guys in between. It is also interesting to learn what the "civilized" people thought of the "barbarians". Anyone interested in ancient or medieval history, and likes a few crazy barbarians this book is for you. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Decent Survey of Barbarians in Western Europe
This book is a collection of essays on the relationship between the Romans and barbarians at the end of the Western empire.In the first chapter, he discusses the economic relationship between the Romans and the barbarians.In the subsequent chapters he investigates these two groups' relationship with each other in various parts of the empire, focusing on the end of Roman rule.He comments on Gaul, Italy, and Spain, and briefly looks at Britain.

Though Thompson's survey of the Western empire was informative and impressive, I could not help but wonder what the state of North Africa was.It is not entirely fair to criticize an author for matters neglected in a book.After all, no book is comprehensive.It seems, however, that a chapter on the decline of Roman influence in Latin Africa would enhance the work.

You'll learn a lot from it if it doesn't put you to sleep...
`Romans and Barbarians' is, to sum it up in a sentence, a summary of Western Europe's history from the 5th to the 8th Centuries AD.Mr. Thompson present an incredible amount of information in this clearly very well-researched book.My only reason for giving it four stars instead of five is that this is very possibly the most boring book on the barbarians I have ever read, yet this is one of the most exciting moments in Western history.I actually fell asleep reading this one a couple times, which I never do.

This is a new paperback edition of this book, which was originally published in hardcover in the UK.The author is E. A. Thompson (1914-1994), who was a professor of classics at the University of Nottingham in England 1948-1979.He wrote a number of other books on the Romans and barbarians in his life, but this one was the most popular.He was summed up by R. A. Markus in the Journal of Roman Studies as `one of the pioneers of the revival in the study of Late Antiquity'.

The introduction to this book is a combination of a condensed history of the earlier Roman-barbarian relations and a summary of the book's scope and content.Several pages of the intro are devoted to the three major forms of contact between Roman and barbarian-warfare, economics, and barbarian movements and migrations.

The first chapter, `The Settlement of Barbarians in Southern Gaul' begins in the year AD 418 and a look at the Germanic and Sarmatian groups traveling (or rampaging) through Gaul and Spain at the time.The second chapter is a summarized history of the earlier Visigoths up to their permanent settlement in Spain, and the third is already looking at the nominal date of the fall of the Western Empire, 476.

From the fourth chapter on to the twelfth and final one, most of this book concerns either the wars between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Goths, or events in Spain in the 5th and 6th Centuries.Three whole chapters are about the barbarian conquest of Spain, and one is exclusively about the Suevic Kingdom of Galicia.Another chapter is devoted to the fall of Noricum, one of Rome's final holdings in the West at the close of the 5th Century, and from which our last epigraphic evidence of Western Roman soldiers comes.On a personal level these chapters were some of the most enlightening for me; the barbarians in Spain, especially the Suevi, fail to receive as much attention as the Vandals and Ostrogoths of the 6th Century.

The barbarian settlement in Britain is dwelt with, but in little detail in comparison to other books.Two other chapters of note concern, respectively, the Italian outlook on the `Byzantine' conquest of Italy under Belisarius in the 6th Century, and the barbarians of the entire period who collaborated with Rome, and often accepted Christianity.Numerous examples of both barbarians who took up Roman ways and also bizarre cases of that going the opposite direction are mentioned in this final chapter.Useful also is the small essay on the Bacaudae at the close of the book, and the comprehensive list of ancient sources.

In short, if you are looking for a scholarly examination of the Western Roman and Early Byzantine Empires' associations, both friendly and not so friendly, with the Goths, Sueves, and Vandals 418-c. 700, this will be a good book for you-just don't buy it expecting to be entertained. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Hospitalitas - and where do I get some; a review of Goffart's "Barbarians and Romans"
Alas for those of us who are enamored of the visages of hordes of barbarians invading the Roman west.Walter Goffart has produced a pin to pop our bubbles.In this book Prof. Goffart makes a very interesting argument against the popular notion that hordes of rampaging barbarians invaded the Roman west in the 4th and 5th centuries.

He argues that the Germanic tribes were not in fact all that numerous and that they were provisioned, not with land ripped from the terrified fingers of its rightful citizen-owners; but rather that they were supported with the results of taxes.To support his argument Goffart looks at a diverse evidence:Everything from the homey reports of Sidonius, to legal records,archeology, and linguistic analysis.

Sidonius, Goffart notes, complained that he couldn't write because there were 10 bulky barbarians billeted in his home, cooking their foul smelling meals to his discomfort.

The archaeological and linguistic evidence, he adds, does not support the notion that the Visigoths were given land.With land holdings one would expect the Visigoths to become entrenched within their surrounding communities.And if that were so, one would not expect them, en masse, to suddenly arise one dayand decide to move elsewhere.

Five Stars.[A-].Academic work.Expect tons of long, useful footnotes; and thought-provoking Appendices.

Important rethinking of primary sources and archaeological data.Includes comprehensive consideration of recent historical thinking - i.e. a look at Dopsch, Pirenne, Lot and their ilk; what they thought and why.

Fantastic Bibliography.

The use of Latin is rather extensive in the Appendices.And while less prevalent in the main text, you probably won't be overly happy with this book as a purchase if you aren't a little comfortable with seeing Latin terms in print.Words such as praetor, mancipia, and terrae abound - although it is important to note that they are defined for you.(I don't want to give you the idea that you have to come to the book already knowing them)

Pam T.

If you think you understood the Dark Ages, think again
Goffart takes issue not only with the common misperception of a violent and massive barbarian invasion of the Roman West, but also with the more prosaic picture which has been drawn in 19th and 20th century historical scholarship of the period--one in which the Goths, Burgundians, etc., were basically granted a third of all the useful lands in Gaul, Spain and Bavaria, causing a monumental upheaval in power and property. He feels this consensus springs from faulty assumptions and misinterpretations of the primary sources particularly those pertaining to Roman tax law. Instead of actual lands, he concludes that thebarbarians were granted the proceeds from a third of the assessed properties that were taxed, and that little or no property changed hands as a result. The Empire, in effect, was dealing itself out of the military payroll game, letting the local (barbarian) militias collect their own damn pay. Although Goffart deduces this mostly from a close examination of the documentary evidence, he also feels it helps explain the anomalous paucity of barbarian archaeological finds from this period, and the usually urban nature of what little is found. There are several ramifications of this picture. Instead of painful disruption of Gallo-Roman property owners, we see instead a sort of book-keeping maneuver designed to minimize the impact of barbarian settlement. We see the opportunistic devolution of Roman taxation and bureaucracy, ingeniously devised to smoothly incorporate barbarian power, without reducing imperial revenues (the empire still received its customary third, the remaining third was for local govt). And, on a larger scale, Goffart believes that one can trace in all this the embryonic stages of early-Middle Ages seignurial arrangements.

I can't begin to do his careful analysis justice, and urge you to read the book for yourself.

I used the phrase "apparently hard-to-argue-with" because whenever I have encountered a reference to his work in seemingly authoritative sources (e.! g., Wolfram's learned but atrociously written "History of the Goths"), it ispraised for its value (while, perhaps, puzzled over for its implications).

Careful revision of the "invasion" myth.
Goffart challenges the widely held perception that the "barbarians" (Goths, Lombards, Alans, etc.) were an invading horde that established themselves in Europe like marauding motorcycle gangs. Rather, their settlement in the West took place as an expediency of the Imperial system. What has commonly been viewed as grants (or capitulations) of land, involving major upheavals for the inhabitants, Goffart convincingly recasts as the transfer of units of taxation. In other words, barbarian warlords and their followers were not given land per se, but the right to the assessed tax proceeds from certain parcels. In a way, then, the Imperial government simply removed itself as the middleman between taxpayer and soldier. This, Goffart argues, entailed much less demographic and political turbulence than has commonly been thought, and explains (to a degree) the rather sparse and urban character of barbarian archaelogical evidence from this period. The legal and social roots of the later feudal system are also revealed. Extensive footnotes and appendices drill down into the details of late-Roman taxation and troop-billeting practices, supporting his conclusions. Very well done scholarship which has, judging from its citations, caused researchers in this field to stop and think. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellentg survey for those new to the period
This first-rate survey is proof, to me, that you don't have to be a tenured academic to write solid academic history. The author (like me) is a librarian of broad and deep experience. She also did graduate study at Heidelberg and the Sorbonne, and acted as a translator and foreign-language editor for the federal government. This study of the transitional period between the classical world and medieval Europe takes the position (with which I have long agreed) that Rome never really "fell," and that Rome and the Germanic tribes were not bent on mutual destruction. That's far too dramatic and self-conscious an interpretation of events. Rather, the Germanic peoples (most of them, most of the time) admired and envied what Rome represented and wanted in on it. Rome, its internal resources stretched dangerously, saw the outsiders as a source of military strength and agricultural labor. Both sides profited from the contact. And the Germans, most of whom didn't actually desire to become Roman, found themselves more and more Romanized, while the empire found itself slipping farther and farther into the Germanic orbit politically and culturally. The author's method is to center her highly literate discussion on the geographical settings of great events, from Rome, Ravenna, and Constantinople, to Barcelona, Trier, and Carthage. She describes the life of the times both from the bottom up and from the top down, which is about as much balance as one may achieve at the remove of fifteen centuries. Over a long period of time, she visited almost every location she mentions and the volume includes more than eighty illustrations and color plates, mostly supplied by her. Her style is educated, yet colorful, which makes it a good starting point for the nonspecialist who has developed an interest in the period. There are no footnotes, but the bibliography is extensive and detailed.

The so-called Barbarians in all their complexity
This book offers a forest of info on the many groups of so-called barbarians, who transformed to Roman Empire into Medieval Europe. To counter simplistic stereotypes of these people, Randers-Pehrson goes in for almost overwhelming detail on the particular histories and cultural contributions of many groups. She shows they were civilized in their own ways, and were more hungry for culture than destroyers of it. They were more often mercenaries for the Romans than invaders, and wanted jobs more than loot. Also, they could not be typified as pagans against Roman Christians. For example, the Goths of Alaric were mainly Arian Christians, and the Berber rebels in North Africa were largely Donatist Christians.

The situation she describes in North Africa was especially fascinating to me. There, the economic and social inequality of ethnic groups led to revolt, and the colonized rebels claimed to stand for an alternative church. Perhaps naturally, these rebel Christians and loyal supporters of the state-backed church labeled each other as servants of Satan. In the countryside, angry young men, thirsting for vengeance on an unjust world, rallied to bands of terrorists known as the Circumcellians (or "prowlers"). These gangs were loosely associated with the Donatist cause, perhaps like the Irish Republican Army claimed to fight for Irish Catholicism. But the Circumcellians grew exceptionally indiscriminate in their attacks. For many of them, any persons of authority or wealth served as symbols of an evil system, be they tax collectors, slave holders, Catholic priests or successful merchants. Any of these, with their families, were fair game for God's wrath. The terrorists cited scripture, that Jesus and the God of justice would serve every oppressor a fittingly horrible end. Some rebels claimed that in God's kingdom all payment of debts must cease. Slave owners must change places with their slaves, and run like beasts of burden before their carts. So the revolt against corrupt clergymen joined hands with a more general rebellion of African plantation workers and slaves.

In many episodes, Randers Pehrson's confusing bizzard of names and battles gives way to fascinating stories. The stories illuminate shifts in people's lives and thinking, which marked an emerging new civilization. In the new post-Roman Europe, the thrones of almost every nation would be occupied by "barbarian" royal families.

author or The Gardens of Their Dreams

A superb effort
This is an excellent overview, which accurately (or, at least, cogently) captures the trends swirling in the wake of the decline and final collapse of the Western part of the Roman empire.

It is not quite a definitive work which leaves the reader with a firm bridging of the gap between Roman rule and the precursors of each of the modern European states - but it comes closer to accomplishing this goal than anything I've read on this subject (I have an interest in late antiquity).

This work needs to be read in conjunction with a host of others for a fuller picture. I recommend the superb history of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich and "Narses - Hammer of the Goths", which is a little harder to find.

The author also uses an easy, relaxed prose which strangely helps to concentrate on the mass of details which must be absorbed to make sense of the proceedings.

Although not the entire mosaic, I would recommend this book as its centrepiece on the subject. ... Read more