The Dark Ages is an era little-known and little-understood. Conventional history portrays it as an ominous and dangerous period precipitated by the fall of Rome. We are led to believe that the torch of civilization flickered only in the monasteries that dotted the landscape of a Europe engulfed in the darkness of barbarianism. "Barbarians: Secrets of the Dark Ages" challenges this accepted view of events, passed down to us by Roman accounts of the barbarian world. There are few indigenous accounts to contradict the Roman view, but reading between the lines, archaeological investigation and critical analysis allow many cultural...Read more
The Dark Ages is an era little-known and little-understood. Conventional history portrays it as an ominous and dangerous period precipitated by the fall of Rome. We are led to believe that the torch of civilization flickered only in the monasteries that dotted the landscape of a Europe engulfed in the darkness of barbarianism. "Barbarians: Secrets of the Dark Ages" challenges this accepted view of events, passed down to us by Roman accounts of the barbarian world. There are few indigenous accounts to contradict the Roman view, but reading between the lines, archaeological investigation and critical analysis allow many cultural voices to emerge out of the darkness...Our own ancestors, long portrayed as barbarians, were much more than that. Their art, their society and their cultural legacy have shaped and moulded the destiny of Europe more than the Roman Empire that once held them in its vice-like grip. The barbarian forces were formidable, and once the enemy was within the Empire the very thing that made the Roman machine tick - the roads - became the means of its rapid destruction as the attacking armies thundered across the continent.
In "Barbarians", Richard Rudgley examines the fall of Rome, the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain and the rise of the Vikings, as the ethnic pattern of Europe changed beyond recognition. Tracing the progress of the Goths, Huns, Vandals and other barbarians peoples, the vibrant, colourful and often violent lives of their leaders and kings are explored. Rudgley also considers the lasting effect of barbarian culture on our own lives - why do we claim Anglo-Saxons as our ancestors? Why and how has the English language left us such a powerful legacy?
In "Barbarians", Richard Rudgley examines the fall of Rome, the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain and the rise of the Vikings, as the ethnic pattern of Europe changed beyond recognition. Tracing the progress of the Goths, Huns, Vandals and other barbarians peoples, the vibrant, colourful and often violent lives of their leaders and kings are explored. Rudgley also considers the lasting effect of barbarian culture on our own lives - why do we claim Anglo-Saxons as our ancestors? Why and how has the English language left us such a powerful legacy?
- ISBN10 0752261975
- ISBN13 9780752261973
- Publish Date 9 August 2002
- Publish Status Unknown
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Pan Macmillan
- Imprint Channel 4 Books
- Edition Media tie-in
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 288
- Language English