Customer Reviews

Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376 - 568 (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks)

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Guy Halsall's Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West is about the best book if you are looking for an overview of modern interpretations of the so called Migration Period. Despite the apparent regional limitation to the 'Roman West' the book also covers a lot of history relating to the 'Roman East' as well. It is a shame and unfair that the rating of this book was marred by a review how took issue with the price.

A major addition to this growing field. Knowledge of the transition from the Roman world to the European world (from about 400AD to about 800AD, aka Late Antiquity, Early Medieval) has been growing rapidly. This knowledge is just now being synthesized and published.

This book is from the perspective of the movements of the non-Roman barbarians into what is now western Europe. The author emphasizes the fluidity of ethnic identification as well as the relatively low numbers of the invaders, while acknowledging the major impact they had on culture, society and politics.

I would recommend this book plus Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400-800 by Chris Wickham. In combination they give an excellent view of the changes that occurred, and the current ideas as to why. These are both upper undergraduate, early graduate level reading. I haven't read it yet, but The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbariansby Peter Heather is frequently cited by both authors (although mostly to respectfully disagree).

It helps if you have a basic understanding of the history of this time. The Civilization of the Middle Ages: A Completely Revised and Expanded Edition of Medieval History by Norman Cantor is a good start, although he(necessarily) does not go in depth. If you want to read a classic The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon is also a start. (It's where I started.)

Read this book and incorporate it's views of the so-called migrations (formerly invasions) with other contemporary views of the early Middle Ages.