Customer Reviews

The Early Germans (The Peoples of Europe)

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Todd's book has become the standard introduction to the history and archaeology of the early Germanic peoples in English. In a remarkably clear and concise work, Todd manages a comprehensive overview of much of the main evidence regarding the Germanic tribes which goes a long way to correcting the popular conception that they were the filthy grunting savages seen in the opening sequence of the movie 'Gladiator'.

In the first part of the book he covers most of the important aspects of the culture of these tribes, covering the physical landscape of forest and marshland in which they lived, their general social structure, trade and diplomacy with Rome, burial customs, art, technology and (of course) warfare. He draws on both literary and archaeological sources of information and uses both judiciously to present a concise picture of these complex and warlike peoples.

Part Two gives brief but useful summaries of the history of the major tribes who took part in the 'Age of Migrations' from the Third to the Seventh Centuries AD. He presents information on the Goths, Seubi, Vandals, Franks, Alemanni, Burgundians, Gepids, Lombards, Thuringians, Bavarians and the Scandinavian tribes, with mentions of many other minor peoples. Each of these is little more than a useful sketch ranging from four to forty pages each (consider that Herwig Wolfram's 'History of the Goths' checks in at over 600 densely packed pages), but each of these is enough to introduce the essential information about each these peoples and direct the interested reader to more extensive information. It also shows that these tribes differed from each other culturally and, to an extent, linguistically and that what is true about the Germanics in the First Century may not be so in the Sixth.

The book is well illustrated with maps, diagrammes, photos of artefacts (both Germanic and Roman) and line drawings and its bibliography, while not comprehensive, is an excellent jumping off point for the reader who wishes to know more.

While the Celts have become a topic of keen interest in recent years, with a plethora of books on them ranging from fine academic works through coffee table books to arrant New Age nonsense, the ancient Germanics are, in a way, the neglected peoples of the ancient world. Given that England was established by Germanic tribes and that they were in many ways the successors of the Roman world, it is a little surprising that these vibrant, warlike and artistic 'barbarians' are not far better known and understood in the English-speaking world.

An excellent book for both the undergraduate student and the general reader. Along with his 'The Northern Barbarians' I can recommend this work very highly.

I have read many books re: this subject, but they have treated the subject in a picemeal manner. This book combines many aspects of those other works into one general history. I liked it very much and have read it three times already!

I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in early Europe and/or an interest in things relating to German history.

Todd's work is an absolute must for German scholors and enthusiasts. It makes an excellent companion to Tacitus and many of the book's sitations are in German. I did not find the language to be at all cumbersome, finishing in only a few days. Excellent begining to any serious study of Germany and its people.

Todd's book is the single best introduction to the subject of Germanic peoples I have found. It contains an accurate summery of the current state of scholarship and is an easy read.

If you can have only one book on the subject, this should be it.
The latest edition of this book is ISBN 1405117141.

The growing number of volumes in the "Peoples of Europe" series are generally quite useful to students of early medieval history; at less than 300 pages, they do well as surveys. This one, unfortunately, is one of the less readable efforts. Todd is interested in the Germanic tribes and their migrations from the early Roman Empire up to about 700 A.D., but he wanders from a chronological coverage of all the multitude of Germanic peoples (who never thought of themselves as "Germans" in the first place), to a topical one (chapters on economy and agriculture, social institutions, burial practices, trade and diplomacy, art and technology, etc), to a geographical survey divided into sections on Goths, Vandals, Franks, Burgundians, Gepids, Lombards, and (oddly) Scandinavians. It's a confusing book to read, with various groups appearing (naturally) in each other's chapters. Todd also mentions in passing specialized information or rival interpretations of the sources that he apparently assumes everyone knows -- which is a bad assumption in a survey of this kind. While there's useful stuff here, I would not suggest this as a first resource for someone new to the field. Instead, I would recommend the separate books in this series by James on the Franks, Heather on the Goths, and Christie on the Lombards -- and Heather's latest, _The Fall of the Roman Empire_ (2006), over all of them.

I haven't read any of the other "Peoples of Europe" books yet (just about to start on the book on the Goths) but I found this to be a great introductory survey of what was known about the Classical and Migration-Age Germanic peoples generally. The book covered, in a cursory fashion, the Goths, Franks, Alamanni, Lombards, and so forth, as well as general discussions about the archaeology and textual evidence. Given the nature of the evidence, the book leans very heavily towards the archaeological corpus.

The book is divided into two parts. The first covers various topics, such as the landscape and the people, difficulties of Roman conquest, the role of Rome, trade, art, religion, military approaches and challenges, etc. This section is excellent. The second covers distinct clusters of Germanic peoples, such as the Goths, the "Northern People" and the like. This section is also quite interesting but seemed overly cursory (presumably this is a way into many of the other books in the series though, so I am not holding it against the author here).

All in all, I'd say, "Highly recommended"

Brings together the latest on archeology with the support of source texts. Strong on the chronological and geographical development, on the broad overview of the germans as a cultural group and their interactions with the Roman Empire. There is also informative coverage of the various subgroups: Goths, Suebi, Vandals, Franks, Alamanni, Burgundians, Saxons, Frisians, Scandinavians, Gepids and Lombards.

Great maps, pictures and diagrams. Covers the land, warfare, encounters with other peoples, economy, trade, agriculture, settlements, art and crafts, cult and ritual and burial of the dead.

Very comprehensible, clear and absorbing.

An excellent book overall which incorporates both literary source material (some of it very scant on resources) and archeology. Begins with the society and culture overall before moving on to individual tribes that everyone is so familiar with. A good resource for those studying early German history or the historic contacts between Rome and the "barbarians" along its borders.

I seems that most authors of Roman history are pushing a point of view, so it is refreshing to read a book that just tries to make sense out of the few facts that are known. Until this book I didn't realize that the Germanic tribes had such a long history, and although not as advanced as the Romans, were far from being savages. One gets a different perspective of the Roman Empire as it existed within the contex of other groups of people. The book is a good overview. I look foward to more detailed studies.

i was hoping to find a newer book that would finally give some kind of a border between the celts and the germanic peoples,but as i've found with too many books on this subject,the line is hazy to non-existent.I realize now since it is so well explained in this book,Germanic and Celtic tribes had no specific celtic or germanic identity.most of these bands were family units or smaller tribes in search of opportunity and one germanic or celtic tribe as different from each other as night or day including the languages and the dialects.When Romeo says in the play,"there is no life outside verona walls"I always thought-spoken like a good Italian.since I've read this book,now I wonder if the Montagu's were not descendents of Germanic lombards,since this tribe ruled over Verona for a long period of the middle ages as well as alot of other germanic peoples.There are alot of thorough but brief descriptions of the numerous germanic tribes and subtribes and good maps of their movements through Europe,Africa and the eastern steppes.One thing consistent in this book though is the gravitation of the germanic peoples to the political center of Europe at the time-ROME!!You would have to say the Germans had excellent taste often battling each other for status and recognition over the guardianship of Rome.I had once read in a book that Arminius defeat of the Roman army under Varus in 9 AD set the germanic peoples back on the evolutionary scale.I always thought that was a "different" interpretation of facts,since I had always perceived the Germanic victory as a turning point for the Roman empire.after reading this book,i see the Tuetoberg victory as somewhat"watered down".I would almost bet the result of this battle was a mass betrayal,complete with super-payoffs,rather than a massacre of some lazily marching Roman soldiers bewildered by the crafty.lurking,savage Germanics.At least it's more believable.In the 1970's I remember reading where 85% of Americans have Germanic roots.After this book I could see how easily that could be.