Barbarians

Rome is falling... It is the time of the barbarians. Conventional history portrays the Dark Ages as an ominous period precipitated by the fall of Rome. We are led to believe that the torch of civilisation flickered only in isolated monasteries that dotted the landscape of a Europe otherwise engulfed in darkness. Barbarians challenges the accepted view of events passed down to us by the Roman accounts of the barbarian world. The Romans, like every imperial power, had a vested interest in propagating their own view of history but if we read between the lines and delve deep into the archaeological record multiple cultural vistas emerge from the shadows of Rome. Our own ancestors were much more than barbarians - their languages, arts and other cultural treasures have shaped and moulded the destiny of Europe more than the Roman Empire that once held them in its vice-like grip. It is the ethnic mosaic of the Huns, Goths, Vandals, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and others that the author reveals in this retelling of an often misunderstood time in our collective history.

Contents:
Introduction: Barbarian Times

PART ONE: ROMAN TWILIGHT
1 All Roads Lead to Rome?
2 The Edge of Empire
3 Wanderlust and Goldlust
4 The Goths: A Roman Horror Story
5 Shadow Emperor
6 The Hell’s Angels of History
7 On the Centaur’s Trail

PART TWO: SHADOWS ON THE LAND
8 The Barbarian Hydra
9 Dwellers in the Marsh
10 Germania Rules the Waves
11 The Land of Two Dragons
12 Reconstructing the Anglo-Saxons
13 The Legacy of a Language
14 The Burials of Sutton Hoo
15 Treasures of a Warrior King
16 Last Rites of a Pagan World

PART THREE: NORTHERN LIGHTS
17 The Twin Monasteries
18 Holy Island
19 Vikings: Pirates and Poets
20 Warships and Pleasure Yachts
21 Gotland: A Barbarian Bank
22 North Atlantic Colonies
23 Ragnarok: End of the Viking World
Afterword

Author: Richard Rudgley
Pages: 292
Binding: Hardcover | Softcover
Published: 2014
Language: English
ISBN: 9781910524077 | 9781910524060