The Barbarian West 400 - 1000

In the fourth century the Roman Empire was under threat. The
Barbarians were becoming a powerful force in Europe, and the Huns,
the most savage of these tribesmen, were sweeping south towards the
imperial frontiers. At the same time the Empire faced growing
internal social and economic problems: plague and war had
diminished the agricultural population and productivity was
falling; the army was under increasing strain in defending the
extensive boundaries. Christianity, too, continued to prove an
unsettling influence - accepted and established in Constantinople,
but not in Rome.

In this perceptive and stimulating book, Professor
Wallace-Hadrill traces the development of Western Europe from the
dissolution of the late Roman Empire to the emergence, in the tenth
century, of the individual states of medieval Europe. Now in its
fourth edition, The Barbarian West contains a fully revised
and up-to-date bibliography.