Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19145 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-07
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Synopsis
"Terry Jones' Barbarians" takes a completely fresh approach to Roman history. Not only does it offer us the chance to see the Romans from a non-Roman perspective, it also reveals that most of those written off by the Romans as uncivilized, savage and barbaric were in fact organized, motivated and intelligent groups of people, with no intentions of overthrowing Rome and plundering its Empire. This original and fascinating study does away with the propaganda and opens our eyes to who really established the civilized world. Delving deep into history, Terry Jones and Alan Ereira uncover the impressive cultural and technological achievements of the Celts, Goths, Persians and Vandals. In this new paperback edition, Terry and Alan travel through 700 years of history on three continents, bringing wit, irreverence, passion and the very latest scholarship to transform our view of the legacy of the Roman Empire and the creation of the modern world.

Customer Reviews

An entertaining and interesting account of the parts of history you don't normally hear
I have to say that this was probably the best book I read last year. You obviously need to have some interest in history to get everything out of it but it is still extremely accessible. It is apparently a companion to a BBC TV series, but it can't have been advertised very much as I don't recall it. You certainly don't miss anything by not having seen it.

It is a history of what happened outside the Roman Empire and thus doesn't concentrate on the Empire itself (though it has fair bit of information to provide the backdrop) and sometimes comes across as biased against the Romans. However as it says in the intro, this is a concious stance taken to highlight the fact that most accounts of the period, and thus accepted "standard" history, are based on Roman writings very often full of contemporary Roman propaganda and so are themselves heavily biased in favour of the Romans.
The authors also highlight the unconcious prejudice of many modern historians in dealing with the period, particularly the technological achievements of non-Romans.

Aside the technical details this was just a great read, with many illuminating facts on people and races that are often portayed wrongly (The Vandals) or simply ignored (The Dacians). The occasional digressions were always interesting (the Roman legion captured and sent to Mongolia; the finds of clothing in ancient Chinese graves that were identical to Celtic clothing of a much later date), and the general style of the writing is as entertaining as Terry Jones always is. He also gives you a great historical overview of a period you won't have learnt about in school.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

What the Romans didn't do for us
Contrary to the absurd statement of one reviewer here, the reason why the barbarians "did not leave so much of a mark as the Romans" had nothing do with them being "better" (whatever that means) and a lot to do with the Roman habit of annihilating entire cultures - witness Gaul, Carthage & Dacia. The other big reason is of course literacy, or lack of it, which meant the Romans were able to put their side of the story while most of their enemies were not.

Terry Jones is not the first person to suggest that maybe the Romans - and not the 'barbarians' - were the really barbaric ones. Indeed there was a TV series & associated book, a few years back on Channel 4 (by Richard Rudgley) that did exactly that. However Jones & Ereira's book is both more entertaining & more convincing than Rudgley's. I can't imagine any fan of ancient history could fail to get something out of this scurrilous and challenging historical essay.

Wonderful reversal of perspective
Roman history from the barbarians' point of view is itself an interesting idea. Add to this the fun tone of delivery and plenty of information that will offer something new to everyone. But it is not novelty that justifies the highest rating on this book but the mature and wise thoughts about it all on offer.Suitable age 10 upwards. This is not really pop history at all. Loved it.