The Birth of France: Warriors, Bishops, and Long-Haired Kings

the authors main source seems to be Gregory of Tours and so some of the tales seem to be more folklore than scholarly interpretation and there are no archaeology finds to prove a point.Also there are no maps.Still it is a vibrant interpretation of Gregory's work and the author uses alot of contemporary sources as well,in addition she has visited most of the sites mentioned.the book gives a good description of the fragmented kingdoms of Europe that were eventually (through much bloodshed) wielded into modern day France.Apparently the Franks were a supertribe who grew to major importance when they were recruited as a military force by what was left of the Roman Empire. The Roman Pope officially sanctioned the Franks and they adopted Christianity during Clovis' reign.(Needless to say but well documented in the book there were scores of "pagan relapses"by the franks and their subjects.The Roman pope wanted to be rid of the Lombards so he hired a "bigger dog",the Franks,a tribe who would not be well juggled by any authority of God or man. I found it interesting that Islam was somewhat welcomed initially during the middle ages by alot of these petty kingdoms.Rulers used Islam as a pawn(as they also used Christianity)to promote their own interests.Charles Martels' victory at Tours seems somewhat watered down as I realized that some of these European kingdoms may have had more fear of Charles the Hammer than the so-called"Muslim hordes".Insane kings.evil queens,religious hypocrites,they're all here,as well as the shining nobility the true unifiers, both religious and secular,from this period.The author obviously has a deep respect and knowlege of classical Greek and Roman works.