The Barbarian West: The Early Middles Ages, A. D. 400-1000

This is a short little book that is tackling a very large subject. It also, self-consciously is limiting the extent it covers its subject, thus the limiting of 400 A.D. to 1000 A.D. It is also limited in that originally the book was written in 1952, only with some updating done in both '67 and '85. At its core is still a good framework for what was known on the subject in 1950. All that said it does provide a good little introduction to the topic of post-Roman Barbarian folk movements. The major tribes involved in those movements in Western Europe were the Franks, Goths, Lombards, and a few others. Because of the historical record being a lot of Swiss-cheese, with writers from the past often confusing one tribe for another, or using words for Goth or Frank as a generic term meaning "Any German dude" complicates the modern understanding of the situation. The major reason people find the study of these folk movements and invasions confusing is because even the people writing about it at the time, the Roman-Celtic peoples living in Italy, Spain and France were confused by it. This has lead to history scholars being confused about it to a certain extent. Naturally enough, this leads to a lot of confusion among laypersons on the subject. This is only a good introduction though. If you are seriously interested in any of the tribes in particular, then you may wish to look elsewhere. But for an understanding of some of the major interrelationship disputes the various tribes had with the Romans and each other, then this provides a good starting point. Of particular value is the books endnotes and bibliography. These provide direction for the person looking to continue and learn more about the topics and issues raised herein.

This is a short little book that is tackling a very large subject. It also, self-consciously is limiting the extent it covers its subject, thus the limiting of 400 A.D. to 1000 A.D. It is also limited in that originally the book was written in 1952, only with some updating done in both '67 and '85. At its core is still a good framework for what was known on the subject in 1950.All that said it does provide a good little introduction to the topic of post-Roman Barbarian folk movements. The major tribes involved in those movements in Western Europe were the Franks, Goths, Lombards, and a few others. Because of the historical record being a lot of Swiss-cheese, with writers from the past often confusing one tribe for another, or using words for Goth or Frank as a generic term meaning "Any German dude" complicates the modern understanding of the situation. The major reason people find the study of these folk movements and invasions confusing is because even the people writing about it at the time, the Roman-Celtic peoples living in Italy, Spain and France were confused by it. This has lead to history scholars being confused about it to a certain extent. Naturally enough, this leads to a lot of confusion among laypersons on the subject. This is only a good introduction though. If you are seriously interested in any of the tribes in particular, then you may wish to look elsewhere. But for an understanding of some of the major interrelationship disputes the various tribes had with the Romans and each other, then this provides a good starting point. Of particular value is the books endnotes and bibliography. These provide direction for the person looking to continue and learn more about the topics and issues raised herein.

As a novice to this period in time this book was challenging to read and took some effort. I did't have the background knowledge necessary to take in the new ideas presented. I gave it four stars however instead of five not because it challenged me. I gave it four stars because the book became somewhat of a list of information put into paragraph form and could have been written more fluidly. This may simply be a byproduct of the authors attempt to put a great volume of information in such a compact work. Jared