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How the Barbarian Invasions Shaped the Modern World: The Vikings, Vandals, Huns, Mongols, Goths, and Tartars who Razed the Old World and Formed the New
This richly detailed chronicle brings to life the personalities of Attila the Hun, Alaric the Goth, Genghis Khan, and many other barbarian kings and chieftains whose rampages across Europe, Asia, and North Africa changed the course of history. In this highly readable and authoritative book, author Thomas J. Craughwell draws upon the latest historical and archaeological research to reveal the impact of the barbarian invasions on the modern from the establishment of the English language, to the foundation of world capitals such as Dublin, to the introduction of gunpowder to Europe. Illustrated with more than 100 archival images gathered from around the world.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 27, 2013
Not a lot to say about this one, as it's kind of a coffee-table book and doesn't go into too much depth. It's hard to make this kind of history boring and this book doesn't do that. However, the unforgivable errors in editing (like page 30 following 14 instead of 29 and stuff like that) and WAY too much Viking stuff really hurt it. Seriously, I love a good Viking story as much as the next guy but there was like five fucking chapters about them and just one each for equally interesting peoples like the Vandals, Huns, Franks, etc. It just seemed like padding. Still, this is probably the only way you're gonna get your mom into a conversation about the Goths sacking Rome.
EDIT: I just realized a really stupid thing about this book: the inclusion of the Mongols. What the fuck, honestly! It's misleading and anachronistic. It makes no sense; you have a majority of the book about the actual barbarian invasions/migrations which take place mostly in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries and then we inexplicably are dealing with the Mongol invasions in the 13th century? Fuckizzat? The book speculates that the Mongols were descended from the Huns, but that's hardly enough of a reason to include a whole section devoted to them. It's arguable that the "New World" the title refers to was mostly crystallized by the time Genghis and his issue got around to their business. It is for these reasons that I doubly cite my complaint of padding from the initial review, and lower the book's rating to two stars, and may I also say that I hope Thomas J. Craughwell's coffee is slightly colder than he likes tomorrow morning.
EDIT: I just realized a really stupid thing about this book: the inclusion of the Mongols. What the fuck, honestly! It's misleading and anachronistic. It makes no sense; you have a majority of the book about the actual barbarian invasions/migrations which take place mostly in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries and then we inexplicably are dealing with the Mongol invasions in the 13th century? Fuckizzat? The book speculates that the Mongols were descended from the Huns, but that's hardly enough of a reason to include a whole section devoted to them. It's arguable that the "New World" the title refers to was mostly crystallized by the time Genghis and his issue got around to their business. It is for these reasons that I doubly cite my complaint of padding from the initial review, and lower the book's rating to two stars, and may I also say that I hope Thomas J. Craughwell's coffee is slightly colder than he likes tomorrow morning.
February 9, 2010
I had high hopes for the book as I really like the topic.
Unfortunately this is a high school treatment of the subject - pretty pictures and hard cover but very chaotic narration, chaotic layout and huge bias towards Britain and Ireland.
Firstly, the title should not be "Modern World", even not Europe, even not Wester Europe+Russia though Spain/Portugal are mentioned shortly...
In my opinion author picked much too wide topic to be successful in a popular - 400 pages book: fall of Roman Empire, Franks, Anglosaxons, Viking, Rus,Mongols - way two broad to answer the title question.
He spends a lot of time writing about Britain and Ireland and Vikings while Avars, Slavs, Magyars who shaped South and Central Europe are not even mentioned...
If you are looking for some light reading - it might be OK but if you are looking tor some deeper thoughts - skip it...
Unfortunately this is a high school treatment of the subject - pretty pictures and hard cover but very chaotic narration, chaotic layout and huge bias towards Britain and Ireland.
Firstly, the title should not be "Modern World", even not Europe, even not Wester Europe+Russia though Spain/Portugal are mentioned shortly...
In my opinion author picked much too wide topic to be successful in a popular - 400 pages book: fall of Roman Empire, Franks, Anglosaxons, Viking, Rus,Mongols - way two broad to answer the title question.
He spends a lot of time writing about Britain and Ireland and Vikings while Avars, Slavs, Magyars who shaped South and Central Europe are not even mentioned...
If you are looking for some light reading - it might be OK but if you are looking tor some deeper thoughts - skip it...
August 7, 2012
On the plus side, the book gives a wide overview of what happened in Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire. A very wide overview.
The problem is that it's a bit too wide. The book wants to do too much in too little space, so much so that it leaves many of the stories and histories hanging. The development of England and France is wrapped up in a paragraph talking about how they would continue fighting on into the colonial period. The book then jumps to the Ukraine and Russia, which was nice since I don't know as much about the history and development of Russia and the Ukraine. However, the shift seemed a bit sudden and almost tacked on to the end.
Curiously, two of the major players in shaping the modern world, Spain and Portugal, are all but left out of the history. The same can be said about Germany and Italy. Almost anything dealing with the development of the Arabic cultures across northern Africa and the Middle East--huge factors in the formation and development of the nations of Europe--were also missing from the text.
In fact, the book even suffers on the last page discussing how the Mongols were pushing into Europe and the heirs to Genghis Khan's sprawling empire were continuing to decimate the eastern parts of Europe and spreading his empire across the known world. Then, suddenly, the book was done. No mention of battles or the outcome of the empire. It was almost as if you could tell that the author tired of writing this book and wrapped it up as curtly as possible to shove into the hands of an expectant editor for publishing.
The layout of the book is also very troublesome. The reader has to skip back and forth between columns of text that are interrupted--sometimes for pages at a time--with images that will at times tangentially relate to the text or the reader has to deal with insets that would are supposed to expand on the narrative, but fail to add any real depth to the subject. Possibly the worst part of the book is the lack of maps. How a history book discussing the formation of nations can use so few map images is beyond me. Perhaps the publisher or author did not want to pay royalties for historic maps, but with the abilities of simple photo editing programs available--for free, even--online, the lack of maps is practically inexcusable. Oh, there are some, but they are mostly ancient--and copies, at that--which render them practically useless.
Overall, the idea for the book sounded much better than the execution. I did gain some insight into the history of eastern Europe, but not nearly enough to be satisfying. In short, use this book as a very broad overview of what happened in the chaos surrounding the fall of Rome. If you want any detail on the history, turn to a different source than this.
The problem is that it's a bit too wide. The book wants to do too much in too little space, so much so that it leaves many of the stories and histories hanging. The development of England and France is wrapped up in a paragraph talking about how they would continue fighting on into the colonial period. The book then jumps to the Ukraine and Russia, which was nice since I don't know as much about the history and development of Russia and the Ukraine. However, the shift seemed a bit sudden and almost tacked on to the end.
Curiously, two of the major players in shaping the modern world, Spain and Portugal, are all but left out of the history. The same can be said about Germany and Italy. Almost anything dealing with the development of the Arabic cultures across northern Africa and the Middle East--huge factors in the formation and development of the nations of Europe--were also missing from the text.
In fact, the book even suffers on the last page discussing how the Mongols were pushing into Europe and the heirs to Genghis Khan's sprawling empire were continuing to decimate the eastern parts of Europe and spreading his empire across the known world. Then, suddenly, the book was done. No mention of battles or the outcome of the empire. It was almost as if you could tell that the author tired of writing this book and wrapped it up as curtly as possible to shove into the hands of an expectant editor for publishing.
The layout of the book is also very troublesome. The reader has to skip back and forth between columns of text that are interrupted--sometimes for pages at a time--with images that will at times tangentially relate to the text or the reader has to deal with insets that would are supposed to expand on the narrative, but fail to add any real depth to the subject. Possibly the worst part of the book is the lack of maps. How a history book discussing the formation of nations can use so few map images is beyond me. Perhaps the publisher or author did not want to pay royalties for historic maps, but with the abilities of simple photo editing programs available--for free, even--online, the lack of maps is practically inexcusable. Oh, there are some, but they are mostly ancient--and copies, at that--which render them practically useless.
Overall, the idea for the book sounded much better than the execution. I did gain some insight into the history of eastern Europe, but not nearly enough to be satisfying. In short, use this book as a very broad overview of what happened in the chaos surrounding the fall of Rome. If you want any detail on the history, turn to a different source than this.
Read
December 5, 2009I should have known better. I normally make book purchases after careful consideration but I let this one slip by me . It was on a remnants table ( now I know why ) , and it was about an area of history that interested me . The book is superficial , has no scholastic originality and is badly written ; it is has many poorly proof read errors , and the lay out with numerous boxes and side bars interrupting the fatuous main text makes for a confused jumble. Fortunately this does not detract from the value of the text as it has none. I won't bother going on about the often ridiculous and mostly worthless illustration . After 50 pages of this dross I skipped to the Saxon invasion of Britain - a topic of personal interest - and found it embodied all the negative features I've already described and so I finally gave up. With no exaggeration this is one of the worst books I have ever bought , both for content and presentation. No stars.
December 18, 2008
Barbarians. Did they destroy civilization or--perhaps inadvertently, perhaps not--save it? This book raises the question of just what the contribution was of those who invaded the Roman empire as it decayed and explores new scholarship that shows that they may have contributed just a greatly to the advancement of the modern world as to the decline of the ancient one. It is a good opening salvo in the new debates about just who the barbarians were and whether they were the bad guys--or the good guys.
January 16, 2016
A great, great read. Will Cuppy would really love this one. Heavily illustrated with paintings, photos of stone carvings and whatnot that document the deeds of the barbarians. Great big bibliography allowing the reader to learn more about any of the characters discussed in the text. The book needed a final copyedit before release, but that's a very small quibble with a delightful book.
Read
September 21, 2012Puts a lot of disparate maraudings in context and shows us how yesterday's barbarians are today's European proto-culture. A fun book.
April 7, 2023
In his book, Craughwell focuses on the invasions of England, France, Russia and China by what he calls "barbarians" or "uncivilised aliens". The book covers a period of about a thousand years from the fall of Western Rome in the 400s. Some 300 pages are packed with colourful and brutal battle descriptions to keep the reader's mind engaged.
Craughwell's text vocabulary is general, but from the reader's point of view the text is confusing and fragmentary. The information presented in the book seems so uncertain that even the lay reader is often left wanting for references.
My own interest in Craughwell's book was mainly about the Vikings and their influence on the creation of Ukraine and Russia. In his presentation, Craughwell describes how, under the leadership of the Scandinavian Vikings, first Novgorod and later Kiev became Viking-ruled capitals as early as the 800s. The first ruler of the Viking-Slavic principality was the famous Danish warlord Rurik. By the end of the 800s, the principality known as Kievan Rus already ruled large areas from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Over the centuries, these territories have since given rise to Ukraine and Russia, among others. Under the influence of the Viking rulers, Kievan Rus was, over the centuries, given a body of laws and converted to the Orthodox Christianity imported from the religion practised in the Byzantine Empire's capital of Constantinople in Eastern Rome.
Despite the obvious shortcomings of the book, Craughwell is forgiven much for making a correct assessment of the intentions of modern Russia towards its neighbours. Craughwell writes how for centuries the desire to conquer has been a feature of Russian rule, regardless of who was in power at any given time. Even today, Russian leaders dream of reclaiming at least some of the territories of the old Soviet Union - especially Ukraine, where Russian Christian culture was born. The first edition of the book dates back to 2008, so the author's assessment has proved to be a complete success. After all, in 2022 Russia launched a full-scale war to take over Ukraine.
Craughwell's text vocabulary is general, but from the reader's point of view the text is confusing and fragmentary. The information presented in the book seems so uncertain that even the lay reader is often left wanting for references.
My own interest in Craughwell's book was mainly about the Vikings and their influence on the creation of Ukraine and Russia. In his presentation, Craughwell describes how, under the leadership of the Scandinavian Vikings, first Novgorod and later Kiev became Viking-ruled capitals as early as the 800s. The first ruler of the Viking-Slavic principality was the famous Danish warlord Rurik. By the end of the 800s, the principality known as Kievan Rus already ruled large areas from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Over the centuries, these territories have since given rise to Ukraine and Russia, among others. Under the influence of the Viking rulers, Kievan Rus was, over the centuries, given a body of laws and converted to the Orthodox Christianity imported from the religion practised in the Byzantine Empire's capital of Constantinople in Eastern Rome.
Despite the obvious shortcomings of the book, Craughwell is forgiven much for making a correct assessment of the intentions of modern Russia towards its neighbours. Craughwell writes how for centuries the desire to conquer has been a feature of Russian rule, regardless of who was in power at any given time. Even today, Russian leaders dream of reclaiming at least some of the territories of the old Soviet Union - especially Ukraine, where Russian Christian culture was born. The first edition of the book dates back to 2008, so the author's assessment has proved to be a complete success. After all, in 2022 Russia launched a full-scale war to take over Ukraine.
July 15, 2019
An easy and engaging read. This book has some great info about the various "barbarian" groups that ravaged the "civilized" peoples of the ancient and medieval world. It primarily focuses on the battles and military leaders who fought on both of these sides, but also attempts to show how the barbarian groups significantly shaped or altered (often inadvertently) the course of history for the civilizations they attacked. The fact that the barbarians shaped the modern world in many ways can't be denied. But they mostly shaped the modern world in the same way a wave "shapes" a sandcastle on the beach. In many cases the barbarians simply wiped out the former ruling classes and intermingled their culture and people with the civilized people groups, eventually settling down and becoming civilized themselves. The book features lots of nice artwork to accompany the text, though there is usually no description of the history behind the artwork, which I was often curious about. Overall, a good introduction to this topic.
May 11, 2020
The author made a lot of false claims such as the Mongols are "probobly" descendents of the Huns ! This is wrong!! The Huns and the Mongols have nothing related with each other except their Asian origin and some of their military strategies are methods.
Grugwell wrongly said in page 262 "....and deep-sea fishermen in Denmark refused to leave port, afraid that they might run into the Mongols on the high seas. (In fact, the ocean was the one place the Danes would have been safe—the Mongols never did learn to sail.)" THAT'S WRONG! The Mongols learned how to sail after their conquest of the powerful Song Dynasty in Southern China and they had their own fleet. In fact, they used this fleet to invade Java, Japan, Burman, Vietnam....
Under Kublai Khan, the Mongols attempted to conquer Japan, but their fleet was twice
devastated by storms causing the Mongols to withdraw without victory.
The Mongols attempted to invade Java several times by using their fleet; however, their attempts always ended in failure and many of their ships drowned!
Grugwell wrongly said in page 262 "....and deep-sea fishermen in Denmark refused to leave port, afraid that they might run into the Mongols on the high seas. (In fact, the ocean was the one place the Danes would have been safe—the Mongols never did learn to sail.)" THAT'S WRONG! The Mongols learned how to sail after their conquest of the powerful Song Dynasty in Southern China and they had their own fleet. In fact, they used this fleet to invade Java, Japan, Burman, Vietnam....
Under Kublai Khan, the Mongols attempted to conquer Japan, but their fleet was twice
devastated by storms causing the Mongols to withdraw without victory.
The Mongols attempted to invade Java several times by using their fleet; however, their attempts always ended in failure and many of their ships drowned!
July 14, 2018
Interesting overview of the post-Roman civilizations that developed in the wake of what German historians characterize as "folk migrations."
Interestingly in light of current events, the impetus for had is genesis in the welter of tribal conflicts originating in the central Asian steppe. Save for the great Viking raids upon and conquests of the western edge of Europe, it was the jostling for power, prestige, plunder and slaves that drove the Germanic tribes living north of the Danube and Rhine south into what they imagined as the safety of a dying Roman Empire.
The culmination of the centuries long central Asian power struggle was the rise of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire. The Mongol's influence out-lives their short lived empire and their retreat from the world's stage.
Easy reading. Suitable for middle school students and above.
Interestingly in light of current events, the impetus for had is genesis in the welter of tribal conflicts originating in the central Asian steppe. Save for the great Viking raids upon and conquests of the western edge of Europe, it was the jostling for power, prestige, plunder and slaves that drove the Germanic tribes living north of the Danube and Rhine south into what they imagined as the safety of a dying Roman Empire.
The culmination of the centuries long central Asian power struggle was the rise of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire. The Mongol's influence out-lives their short lived empire and their retreat from the world's stage.
Easy reading. Suitable for middle school students and above.
November 5, 2016
Not sure what happened to the editor on this one. Call it "history light". I had a sense that if Inside Edition made a history book, it might turn out like this. Entertaining stories and nice overview. Not footnoted. Sources of paintings given, but not the painting names or artists. Narrative was good, but there were typos and oversights throughout. Inset vignettes didn't flow well at times with the narratives. Still, a fun read.
May 10, 2021
Reading all the reviews of 1 and 2 stars. Ok, all valid but come on. It is a coffee table book. It is supposed to be a fun read with lots of pretty pictures, timelines, and maybe a few errors. Our family just got back from Europe. We spent 2020 not exploring all the places I had hoped to explore. Now I have a few more places to add to the list of things we need to see if we can ever get back there.
July 15, 2021
I'm on the first chapter and I've already disagree with him. 1 the Romans didn't invent the dome it was the Etruscans. An Italian group yes but well before Rome. 2 Greece is responsible for representative democracy not Rome. The Romans took the idea from them, possibly improving on it. That I couldn't comment on.
In addition he had covered several hundred years in a blink of an eye without providing appropriate context. It looks good but has no substance.
Wish I could say I finished it.
In addition he had covered several hundred years in a blink of an eye without providing appropriate context. It looks good but has no substance.
Wish I could say I finished it.
May 4, 2025
Going into this book, my expectations were high. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to them. I liked the information from the book, but it was poorly written, and the editing was even worse.
The narrative had interjections that were hard to distinguish from the main story, this made the story extremely difficult to follow at times.
The narrative had interjections that were hard to distinguish from the main story, this made the story extremely difficult to follow at times.
May 8, 2017
A nice, quick overview of the "Barbarians" of old. Mr. Craughwell seems to enjoy the Vikings more than the other barbarians but still a fun little diversion.
July 19, 2017
A well done Primer for anyone curious about the transitional period between the collapse of Rome and the Middle Ages.
January 2, 2024
Direct correlation is not shown anywhere
March 23, 2017
Ihan kiva yleisesitys ei-kristittyjen kansojen valloitusretkistä.
March 1, 2012
A quick read, but jumbled and with a strange layout. Also, isn't the golden rule of a history book to have modern maps? It is cursory and nice for an overview. Interesting anecdotes keep the stories alive. Some nice illustrations as well. It puts things into a perspective that is absent from more detailed and scholarly approaches. For further interest, the bibliography has a couple of the more popular texts on the subject (Like Peter Heather for the Goths).
November 11, 2013
A well done popular-level overview rather than a detailed scholarly work. Filled with interesting sidebars and historical anecdotes, it still provides an excellent outline of the peoples listed in the title.
Would benefit from a concluding chapter summing up the impact of all of them on Europe and Asia, to fulfill the promise of the latter part of the title.
Well written and entertaining, as well as educational (albeit at a somewhat elementary level).
Would benefit from a concluding chapter summing up the impact of all of them on Europe and Asia, to fulfill the promise of the latter part of the title.
Well written and entertaining, as well as educational (albeit at a somewhat elementary level).
January 12, 2013
This was a very fascinating book, fascinating enough that I was able to overlook the abundant number of editing errors that seemed to be found on one in every three pages. Informative but not in that overly stuffy and scholarly fashion that can take the joy out of reading history for pleasure.
Read
December 9, 2008Check out The Dark Ages when civilization teetered on the edge of oblivion but made a comeback.
Kelly
Kelly
November 8, 2012
A good book if you want a snap shot of what the "barbarians" did across Europe and the Mediterranean. Very easy read, and the pictures and trivia included are very informative.
October 13, 2013
Good overview, but doesn't go into a lot of depth on the subject.
April 14, 2014
This is really a children's history book and would be liked by children who are into stories of Vikings and Mongols, etc. It includes some dramatic illustrations that supplement the narrative.
February 13, 2015
Fascinating, loved it. A fifferent view of history.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews