Product Description

In this text the author provides an account of the centuries during which Europe changed from being an abstract geographical expression into a new, culturally coherent, if politically divided, entity. It examines how the social, economic and cultural structures of Antiquity were replaced by their medieval equivalents and also seeks to define the European context, by looking at those external forces, such as the nomadic confederacies of Central Asia and the Islamic empire of the Arabs, which helped to shape it through conflict.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #116833 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

From the Publisher
toc
Contents: Chronology of Main Events, 238-1000

Preface to the First Edition

Preface to the Second Edition

Introduction

Problem-Solving Emperors

The Age of Constantine

Frontier Wars and Civil Wars, 350-395

The Battle of Adrianople and the Sack of Rome

A Divided City: The Christian Church, 300-460

The Disappearance of an Army

The New Kingdoms

The Twilight of the West, 518-568

Constantinople, Persia and the Arabs

Decadent and Do-Nothing Kings

The Remaking of Britain

The Lombard Achievement, c.540-712

The Sundering of East and West

Monks and Missionaries

Towards a New Western Empire, 714-800

The New Constantine

Frontier Societies: Christian Spain, 711-1037

'The Dissension of Kings'

'The Desolation of the Pagans'

The Ottonian Age

Abbreviations

Notes

Bibliography

Index