Product Description

This is a major new survey of the barbarian migrations and their role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the creation of early medieval Europe, one of the key events in European history. Unlike previous studies it integrates historical and archaeological evidence and discusses Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe and North Africa, demonstrating that the Roman Empire and its neighbours were inextricably linked. A narrative account of the turbulent fifth and early sixth centuries is followed by a description of society and politics during the migration period and an analysis of the mechanisms of settlement and the changes of identity. Guy Halsall reveals that the creation and maintenance of kingdoms and empires was impossible without the active involvement of people in the communities of Europe and North Africa. He concludes that, contrary to most opinions, the fall of the Roman Empire produced the barbarian migrations, not vice versa.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #231140 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 616 pages

Review
'… the rich and complex work of a meticulous, original, and daring historian, … Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West should be read by anyone interested the early middle ages, the historical use of archaeological evidence, theories and practices of ethnicity, and finally, in Roman Empire and its ultimate collapse.' Speculum

'This book is important not only as a systematic statement of important current views on how the last Mediterranean empire of antiquity devolved into a series of recognisably European polities, but also for its impressive fusion of seemingly disparate archaeological and literary/historical materials. A genuinely important contribution to its field, by striving to be accessible to those outside its discipline, this book should contribute beneficially to wider discussions of historical change.' English Historical Review

About the Author
GUY HALSALL is Professor of History at the University of York.

Customer Reviews

"Breakdown of central authority caused the barbarian migrations, not vice versa"
These days histories of the later Roman empire are replete with revisionist analyses of the barbarian involvement; it almost seems that political correctness and liberal sensitivities with respect to modern day immigration in Europe are also deeply affecting the interpretation of the past history of Europe, so that nothing negative whatsoever can be said in relation to late Roman immigration. For certain, "blaming" the barbarians in any capacity whatsoever for any involvement in The Fall is right out of fashion.

Halsall sets out his store very early on, declaring that the breakup of the West caused the barbarian migrations and not vice versa. Roman influence didn't stop at the Danube/Rhine/North Sea interface, and the decline of authority on the Empire side created a pull effect across the other side.

However the following 500 plus pages fail to make a convincing argument for this, neither in terms of what was the nature of the pull effect and why it was created by the breakdown of authority, nor indeed why authority began to break down. If there even was any argument at all it must have been so subtle that it frankly passed me by completely.

He certainly feels that the locals willingly and cheefully entered into deals with the barbarians to hand over power, purely based on the absence of complaints in the contemporary literature about barbarians nicking land. It would have been difficult however for them to argue with the pointy bits of swords and spears, always the basis of authority through the Empire.

That's not to say that this isn't a valuable and thought-provoking book. By reanalysing Halsall questions many of the assumptions passed down and showing them to be on shaky ground, even debunking the odd total myth - for example he traces the oft-quoted "fact" that the Vandals, Alans and Suevi were only able to cross the Rhine in 406 when it was frozen back to a completely fanciful notion originated by Gibbon.

Valuable reading for this period, even if the main thesis presented by the book appears to lack an argument.