Here is the dramatic story of the barbarians, beginning with the epochal event that shook civilization and signaled the end of the western empire: the sacking of Rome by the Visigoth Alaric in the early fifth-century CE. Historian Grace Cole steps back and reviews the long history of barbarian invaders who pushed into Europe from the steppes of Asia, beginning 3,000 years ago with the nomadic … Scythians, and then traces the tribes from Scandinavia, who migrated south to plague the empire until it finally crumbled. She examines the successes and failures of the principal barbarian tribes over the six centuries of their dominance and explores the surprising role of the Church as the era progressed. She covers the rise of France and the Holy Roman Empire and shows how the last great wave of barbarians – the Vikings -colonized a new world in Greenland and North America. Finally, she explains feudalism, the strange structure that held society together into the early Renaissance, outlining how it foreshadowed and laid the foundations for the civilization that became Europe.
This rich heritage – the flowering of learning, the bold exploration and colonization of the globe, new political and economic structures, the idea of personal freedom – all were, in large part, the fruit of barbarism. And finally, the belief that barbarians and medieval Europe belonged to a dark age is conclusively put to rest.
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If you are interested in European history, you will find this book an excellent source of information on how the modern ethnic groups originated from their primitive ancestors.
Very informative
Wrong book I haven’t read this one. Sorry
READER BEWARE:
Whoever Grace Cole is, she would do well to read up on the barbarian peoples before writing a book about them. In the first few chapters there are MAJOR errors which should not appear in a history book, and which sound the alarm for unreliability when it comes to other possible errors I did not detect. Chapter 3, “The Germanic Tribes,” begins with a long section on The Celts. The only problem is that the Celts are not Germanic! Not only that, but the Celtic Gauls (the ones who were able to sack Rome ~390 BC) somehow are conflated with the Franks who occupied Gaul hundreds of years later, and who were not Celts but Germanic tribes from which the likes of Clovis, Charles Martel and Charlemagne descended. “Back on the Continent,” Cole writes, “another tribe of Celts was coming into its own: the Franks, who were developing their own language customs and identity.” There are no footnotes or sources cited for this or any other factual claims, but the Franks first appeared in the historical record in the late 3rd century AD, and they were Germanic NOT Celtic.
Another confusion arises when the author has the ancient Scythians of the 5th and 4th centuries BC (horse-riding warriors from the Eurasian steppes) speaking “Persian.” One would think that the author, who quotes Herodotus generously, would know that Old Persian was the language not of Scythians but the Achaemenid Empire, i.e. the Persians whose war with the Ancient Greeks is the subject of Herodotus’ book where Scythians are also mentioned. The Scythians’ language is unattested, and classed as an early(maybe the earliest) East Iranian language. The Iranian family of languages includes many languages spanning a vast region over centuries. Some of these include, Pashto, Sogdian, Avestan, Old Ossetic and many others. Old, middle and modern Persian (Farsi) have nothing to do with the ancient Scythian warriors whose language remains a mystery to scholars today. With errors as basic as these, I stopped reading somewhere in the 4th chapter. I don’t know if the author’s relationship with facts improves in the later chapters, but I would not assume so. What I read is simply bad history. Reader beware.
I only have the sample which is very good so far. I’d like to read the entire book. It’s well written..
The book describes an interesting, chaotic time in history. I found it fascinating.
I found this book to be very informative and easy to read. It is beautifully written, and reads like an exciting page turner. The new information about Barbarians changed my concept about them. I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure and am far better informed for it.
For anyone wanting to fill in their knowledge of history between the end of the classical period and the arrival of feudalism, this is a great book on a subject little discussed in history books.
good history book
Very informative. Filled in a lot of blanks in the early centuries.
The book is a broad overview of trends in European history associated with “barbarians.” The book could use more depth of analysis.
Ms. Close has provided an easy reading, entertaining, and informative book about Europe’s Dark Ages which was defined by successive invasions by Barbarian tribes from the peripheries of the continent. She also relates how the earlier invaders often were absorbed into the indigenous population and became a part of the culture which was later the target of a new invasion by the latest barbarian scourge. Through this process of the recurring influx of new languages, traditions, and religions, the framework was set for today’s modern nation states. While necessarily painting with a broad brush in order to cover several centuries, Ms. Close does focus on the most significant leaders of the era as illustrative of her theme for that period. The book is relatively short (~250 pps.) for the subject it covers, and the author’s easily read style makes it go quickly. You won’t be an expert on the Dark Ages when you finish, but you will know how to distinguish a Visigoth from a Hun and a Vandal from a Viking.
A good introduction to the transition from Rome to modern Europe;
Informative but a little thin.
Though it’s was short it was filled with historical facts. The book helps to create further interest in the topic of the Barbarians.