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The Inheritance of Rome : Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 / Chris Wickham.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Penguin history of Europe ; 2.Publication details: New York, New York : Penguin Books, 2010.Description: xi, 650 p., [16] p. of plates : ill., maps ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 0143117424
  • 9780143117421
Subject(s):
Contents:
The Roman Empire and its breakup, 400-550. The weight of empire ; Culture and belief in the Christian Roman world ; Crisis and continuity, 400-550 -- The post-Roman West, 550-750. Merovingian Gaul and Germany, 500-751 ; The West Mediterranean kingdoms : Spain and Italy, 550-750 ; Kings without states : Britain and Ireland, 400-800 ; Post-Roman attitudes : culture, belief, and political etiquette, 550-750 ; Wealth, exchange, and peasant society ; The power of the visual : material culture and display from Imperial Rome to the Carolingians -- The empires of the East, 550-1000. Byzantine survival, 550-850 ; The crystallization of Arab political power, 630-750 ; Byzantine revival, 850-1000 ; From "Abbasid Baghdad to Umayyad Córdoba, 750-1000 ; The state and the economy : Eastern Mediterranean exchange networks, 600-1000 -- The Carolingian and post-Carolingian West, 750-1000. The Carolingian century, 751-887 ; Intellectuals and politics ; The 10th-century successor states ; "Carolingian" England, 800-1000 ; Outer Europe ; Aristocrats between the Carolingian and the "feudal" worlds ; The caging of the peasantry, 800-1000 ; Conclusion : trends in European history, 400-1000.
Summary: Historian Chris Wickham defies conventional views of the "Dark Ages" in European history with a work of rigorous yet accessible scholarship. Drawing on a wealth of new material and featuring a thoughtful synthesis of historical and archaeological approaches, Wickham argues that these centuries were critical in the formulation of European identity. Far from being a "middle" period between more significant epochs, this age has much to tell us in its own right about the progress of culture and the development of political thought. Wickham focuses on a world still profoundly shaped by Rome, which encompassed peoples ranging from Goths, Franks, and Vandals to Arabs, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings. Digging deep into each culture, Wickham constructs a vivid portrait of a vast and varied world stretching from Ireland to Constantinople, the Baltic to the Mediterranean--the crucible in which Europe would ultimately be created.--From publisher description.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 940.12 W637 Checked out 05/09/2024 33111006421669
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"The breath of reading is astounding, the knowledge displayed is awe-inspiring and the attention quietly given to critical theory and the postmodern questioning of evidence is both careful and sincere."-- The Daily Telegraph (UK)

"A superlative work of historical scholarship."-- Literary Review (UK)

A unique and enlightening look at Europe's so-called Dark Ages; the second volume in the Penguin History of Europe

Defying the conventional Dark Ages view of European history between A.D. 400 and 1000, award-winning historian Chris Wickham presents The Inheritance of Rome , a work of remarkable scope and rigorous yet accessible scholarship. Drawing on a wealth of new material and featuring a thoughtful synthesis of historical and archaeological approaches, Wickham agues that these centuries were critical in the formulation of European identity. From Ireland to Constantinople, the Baltic to the Mediterranean, the narrative constructs a vivid portrait of the vast and varied world of Goths, Franks, Vandals, Arabs, Saxons, and Vikings. Groundbreaking and full of fascinating revelations, The Inheritance of Rome offers a fresh understanding of the crucible in which Europe would ultimately be created.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 565-622) and index.

The Roman Empire and its breakup, 400-550. The weight of empire ; Culture and belief in the Christian Roman world ; Crisis and continuity, 400-550 -- The post-Roman West, 550-750. Merovingian Gaul and Germany, 500-751 ; The West Mediterranean kingdoms : Spain and Italy, 550-750 ; Kings without states : Britain and Ireland, 400-800 ; Post-Roman attitudes : culture, belief, and political etiquette, 550-750 ; Wealth, exchange, and peasant society ; The power of the visual : material culture and display from Imperial Rome to the Carolingians -- The empires of the East, 550-1000. Byzantine survival, 550-850 ; The crystallization of Arab political power, 630-750 ; Byzantine revival, 850-1000 ; From "Abbasid Baghdad to Umayyad Córdoba, 750-1000 ; The state and the economy : Eastern Mediterranean exchange networks, 600-1000 -- The Carolingian and post-Carolingian West, 750-1000. The Carolingian century, 751-887 ; Intellectuals and politics ; The 10th-century successor states ; "Carolingian" England, 800-1000 ; Outer Europe ; Aristocrats between the Carolingian and the "feudal" worlds ; The caging of the peasantry, 800-1000 ; Conclusion : trends in European history, 400-1000.

Historian Chris Wickham defies conventional views of the "Dark Ages" in European history with a work of rigorous yet accessible scholarship. Drawing on a wealth of new material and featuring a thoughtful synthesis of historical and archaeological approaches, Wickham argues that these centuries were critical in the formulation of European identity. Far from being a "middle" period between more significant epochs, this age has much to tell us in its own right about the progress of culture and the development of political thought. Wickham focuses on a world still profoundly shaped by Rome, which encompassed peoples ranging from Goths, Franks, and Vandals to Arabs, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings. Digging deep into each culture, Wickham constructs a vivid portrait of a vast and varied world stretching from Ireland to Constantinople, the Baltic to the Mediterranean--the crucible in which Europe would ultimately be created.--From publisher description.

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