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ciannait76's review against another edition
3.0
I read this book over a long period, mainly because it is a long one. To be honest I'm not sure how to review this book. I had bought it thinking it was about something and it ended up being about something else entirely (or rather a different time period). Plus, if I'm going to compare it to his other book (The Fall of the Roman Empire) this book doesn't do so well. It was a bit on the boring side, not meant for the casual history buff, HOWEVER; the information in the book is invaluable if you want to understand how Europe was formed, and what are the main causes of migration [any migration really] and that is the real value of the book.
I'm going to say that this book is more of a 3.5.
I'm going to say that this book is more of a 3.5.
tanyarobinson's review against another edition
3.0
Way back in 1991 I took a class at BYU called The Early Middle Ages, and I learned about the fall of Rome and the migrations of Germanic barbarians that created Europe as we know it. I will always look back on this as one of my favorite university courses, so when I saw this book that expanded on the same basic topic, I was really excited to read it.
Peter Heather is clear about his objective: he is trying to correct and center the pendulum swing of interpretation of barbarian migrations in the first millennium. Up until the 1960s the preferred theory was that massive invasions of homogenous "peoples" largely replaced native groups, through ethnic cleansing and forced displacement. In the late 1900s reactionary historians rejected this hypothesis and instead proposed that there was no great Völkerwanderung, but rather a replacement of only small groups of elites. Heather stands on an evidence-based middle ground, showing that the pull of unequal development brought less advanced groups closer to Roman territory, first for small-scale trade opportunities, then eventually in conglomerated military bands with large enough numbers to challenge for position and wealth. Combined with the Empire's internal weaknesses, struggles against the Sassanid Empire in the Southeast, and a gradual loss of agricultural tax base, eventually the old system gave way to a new. Migration played a huge role in the evolution of Europe, but the incoming groups were less unified and much more heterogenous than originally believed, and while they displaced the old elites, they did not drive away natives. The balance of this process varied from area to area, and Heather breaks this all down.
While I remembered a lot about Germanic groups from my college course, Heather took me beyond my syllabus and taught me more about Viking invasions not just in England and Normandy, but also in Rus territories. I learned about the Slavicization of the Balkans and Eastern Europe in the second half of the first millennium, sustained largely by capturing and selling European slaves to the Islamic Empire. I think my biggest take-away from the book was a much better understanding of why various European countries speak the languages they do. I now understand why Anglo-Saxon displaced Celtic and Pict dialects in Britain, yet resisted the pull of Norman and Viking invaders. I see why France and much of Italy, which were developed by Germanic groups, held onto its Latin-based speech, while earlier inhabitants of what become the Holy Roman Empire adopted the tongue of in-migrating peoples. I also now roughly understand the distribution of Slavic languages.
So... there was a lot of really good information in Empires and Barbarians, but I'm only giving it 3.25 stars. Why? First off, there was sooooo much detailed information that I thought I would drown in chapters about material culture in the form of pottery, variations in inhumation and cremation sites, weapons caches preserved in bogs, and other archeological evidence for migration and cultural assimilation. I was ready to believe Heather's assertions without having to personally learn every tiny bit of supporting cross-discipline evidence out there! Secondly, there is so much repetition, so much recapitulation of the author's stance on migration at the close of each section. Sections of the book were stimulating, but it's been awhile since 700 pages felt so long for me.
Peter Heather is clear about his objective: he is trying to correct and center the pendulum swing of interpretation of barbarian migrations in the first millennium. Up until the 1960s the preferred theory was that massive invasions of homogenous "peoples" largely replaced native groups, through ethnic cleansing and forced displacement. In the late 1900s reactionary historians rejected this hypothesis and instead proposed that there was no great Völkerwanderung, but rather a replacement of only small groups of elites. Heather stands on an evidence-based middle ground, showing that the pull of unequal development brought less advanced groups closer to Roman territory, first for small-scale trade opportunities, then eventually in conglomerated military bands with large enough numbers to challenge for position and wealth. Combined with the Empire's internal weaknesses, struggles against the Sassanid Empire in the Southeast, and a gradual loss of agricultural tax base, eventually the old system gave way to a new. Migration played a huge role in the evolution of Europe, but the incoming groups were less unified and much more heterogenous than originally believed, and while they displaced the old elites, they did not drive away natives. The balance of this process varied from area to area, and Heather breaks this all down.
While I remembered a lot about Germanic groups from my college course, Heather took me beyond my syllabus and taught me more about Viking invasions not just in England and Normandy, but also in Rus territories. I learned about the Slavicization of the Balkans and Eastern Europe in the second half of the first millennium, sustained largely by capturing and selling European slaves to the Islamic Empire. I think my biggest take-away from the book was a much better understanding of why various European countries speak the languages they do. I now understand why Anglo-Saxon displaced Celtic and Pict dialects in Britain, yet resisted the pull of Norman and Viking invaders. I see why France and much of Italy, which were developed by Germanic groups, held onto its Latin-based speech, while earlier inhabitants of what become the Holy Roman Empire adopted the tongue of in-migrating peoples. I also now roughly understand the distribution of Slavic languages.
So... there was a lot of really good information in Empires and Barbarians, but I'm only giving it 3.25 stars. Why? First off, there was sooooo much detailed information that I thought I would drown in chapters about material culture in the form of pottery, variations in inhumation and cremation sites, weapons caches preserved in bogs, and other archeological evidence for migration and cultural assimilation. I was ready to believe Heather's assertions without having to personally learn every tiny bit of supporting cross-discipline evidence out there! Secondly, there is so much repetition, so much recapitulation of the author's stance on migration at the close of each section. Sections of the book were stimulating, but it's been awhile since 700 pages felt so long for me.
alexctelander's review against another edition
4.0
As time passes, more research is done, more artifacts and items are discovered, and more is known about the beginning of the Middle Ages, often know as the so-called “Dark Ages.” The simple explanation that is spouted in most simple history books is the idea that when the Roman Empire fell, all of Western Europe regressed to barbarian savages and everything was lost, and it was not until around a thousand years later that this continent achieved a civilized status once more. But as more study, archaeology, and discoveries are made, the idea of these “Dark Ages” is turning out to be a gross misnomer. Thankfully, books like Peter Heather’s Empires and Barbarians are doing their part to strike the use of this term from the record.
Peter Heather, a professor of Medieval History at King’s College London, begins with an important recapping of the waning centuries of the Roman Empire, setting the stage with what was going on and why the giant machine came to a grinding, crumbling halt. Heather then launches into a discussion on the birth of Europe and what exactly was going on, using thorough and up to date research. The book is divided into eleven large chapters covering the big social groups of Europe including the Franks, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Huns, and others. It is commonly conceived that many of these groups moved in massive migration patterns easily around the continent, displacing other ethnic groups that were already there; new evidence and research, however, says otherwise; this is what Empires and Barbarians is about.
Heather spends many pages discussing and educating the reader on the migration patterns of these social groups, which were not in such large numbers as previously thought. Heather never proclaims, but is a good historian with theories and suppositions on the evidence, going into detail that it was more likely these large groups weren’t displaced or killed, but joined up with the smaller invading social groups. The result was a new ruling class, the best example of which is the Norman invasion (thanks to the Doomsday Book), that became a part of the society it was invading, not seeking to eradicate it so much as to rule over it and become part of its culture.
Empires and Barbarians is a thick and thorough history book on this important period in history, backed up with maps and a lengthy bibliography. Peter Heather doesn’t hold back on what he thinks and has to say, but the key is to stick with it and you end up learning more about the early medieval world than you ever would’ve expected.
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
Peter Heather, a professor of Medieval History at King’s College London, begins with an important recapping of the waning centuries of the Roman Empire, setting the stage with what was going on and why the giant machine came to a grinding, crumbling halt. Heather then launches into a discussion on the birth of Europe and what exactly was going on, using thorough and up to date research. The book is divided into eleven large chapters covering the big social groups of Europe including the Franks, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Huns, and others. It is commonly conceived that many of these groups moved in massive migration patterns easily around the continent, displacing other ethnic groups that were already there; new evidence and research, however, says otherwise; this is what Empires and Barbarians is about.
Heather spends many pages discussing and educating the reader on the migration patterns of these social groups, which were not in such large numbers as previously thought. Heather never proclaims, but is a good historian with theories and suppositions on the evidence, going into detail that it was more likely these large groups weren’t displaced or killed, but joined up with the smaller invading social groups. The result was a new ruling class, the best example of which is the Norman invasion (thanks to the Doomsday Book), that became a part of the society it was invading, not seeking to eradicate it so much as to rule over it and become part of its culture.
Empires and Barbarians is a thick and thorough history book on this important period in history, backed up with maps and a lengthy bibliography. Peter Heather doesn’t hold back on what he thinks and has to say, but the key is to stick with it and you end up learning more about the early medieval world than you ever would’ve expected.
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
gersandelf's review
The library took it back, but I want to keep reading when I next can take it out!
alexctelander's review
4.0
As time passes, more research is done, more artifacts and items are discovered, and more is known about the beginning of the Middle Ages, often know as the so-called “Dark Ages.” The simple explanation that is spouted in most simple history books is the idea that when the Roman Empire fell, all of Western Europe regressed to barbarian savages and everything was lost, and it was not until around a thousand years later that this continent achieved a civilized status once more. But as more study, archaeology, and discoveries are made, the idea of these “Dark Ages” is turning out to be a gross misnomer. Thankfully, books like Peter Heather’s Empires and Barbarians are doing their part to strike the use of this term from the record.
Peter Heather, a professor of Medieval History at King’s College London, begins with an important recapping of the waning centuries of the Roman Empire, setting the stage with what was going on and why the giant machine came to a grinding, crumbling halt. Heather then launches into a discussion on the birth of Europe and what exactly was going on, using thorough and up to date research. The book is divided into eleven large chapters covering the big social groups of Europe including the Franks, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Huns, and others. It is commonly conceived that many of these groups moved in massive migration patterns easily around the continent, displacing other ethnic groups that were already there; new evidence and research, however, says otherwise; this is what Empires and Barbarians is about.
Heather spends many pages discussing and educating the reader on the migration patterns of these social groups, which were not in such large numbers as previously thought. Heather never proclaims, but is a good historian with theories and suppositions on the evidence, going into detail that it was more likely these large groups weren’t displaced or killed, but joined up with the smaller invading social groups. The result was a new ruling class, the best example of which is the Norman invasion (thanks to the Doomsday Book), that became a part of the society it was invading, not seeking to eradicate it so much as to rule over it and become part of its culture.
Empires and Barbarians is a thick and thorough history book on this important period in history, backed up with maps and a lengthy bibliography. Peter Heather doesn’t hold back on what he thinks and has to say, but the key is to stick with it and you end up learning more about the early medieval world than you ever would’ve expected.
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
Peter Heather, a professor of Medieval History at King’s College London, begins with an important recapping of the waning centuries of the Roman Empire, setting the stage with what was going on and why the giant machine came to a grinding, crumbling halt. Heather then launches into a discussion on the birth of Europe and what exactly was going on, using thorough and up to date research. The book is divided into eleven large chapters covering the big social groups of Europe including the Franks, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Huns, and others. It is commonly conceived that many of these groups moved in massive migration patterns easily around the continent, displacing other ethnic groups that were already there; new evidence and research, however, says otherwise; this is what Empires and Barbarians is about.
Heather spends many pages discussing and educating the reader on the migration patterns of these social groups, which were not in such large numbers as previously thought. Heather never proclaims, but is a good historian with theories and suppositions on the evidence, going into detail that it was more likely these large groups weren’t displaced or killed, but joined up with the smaller invading social groups. The result was a new ruling class, the best example of which is the Norman invasion (thanks to the Doomsday Book), that became a part of the society it was invading, not seeking to eradicate it so much as to rule over it and become part of its culture.
Empires and Barbarians is a thick and thorough history book on this important period in history, backed up with maps and a lengthy bibliography. Peter Heather doesn’t hold back on what he thinks and has to say, but the key is to stick with it and you end up learning more about the early medieval world than you ever would’ve expected.
For more book reviews and exclusive author interviews, go to BookBanter.
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