The Early Germans by Malcolm Todd

[Viggen]

As a German-American I try to be conversant with the contributions of Germanic speaking peoples to history, from Mozart to Mercedes-Benz. And yet I only have the dimmest knowledge of German civilization before the 1600s. Trying to correct that problem, I read The Early Germans. Malcom Todd delivers a serviceable overview of the barbarians who inherited the mighty Roman Empire. The written record of the Germanic tribes is far from substantial, and it is viewed from the eyes of Roman writers who had their own agendas. It is left largely to archaeology to elucidate these nebulous peoples. Fortunately, Malcolm Todd is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Exeter, and formerly a Senior Research Fellow of the British Academy...

 

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