- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Princeton University Press; Reprint edition (July 16 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0691089787
- ISBN-13: 978-0691089782
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 476 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,028,380 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Library Journal
Traditionally, the indigenous peoples of temperate Europe with whom the Romans came in contactAthat is, the Celts and the GermansAhave been considered barbarians. Classical accounts of these peoples by Julius Caesar, Tacitus, and other Greek and Roman writers presented these nonliterate peoples as inhabitants of a primitive environment lacking the complexities of the Mediterranean world. Wells (anthropology, Univ. of Minnesota; Rural Economy in the Early Iron Age) draws upon current research to challenge this view. For the general reader, he presents research that has been until now largely the preserve of specialists,, revealing that the Celts and the Germans had a more complex material and social culture than previously believed. They were developing cities, for instance, and minting coins, suggesting the presence of a money economy before Roman expansion into the area. This will appeal to students and lay readers with an interest in European history; recommended for academic and larger public libraries.ARobert James Andrews, Duluth P.L., MN
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
The Barbarians Speak is a book of deep scholarship and high quality. It will bring profitable reading to those interested in the ancient world, and it will prove illuminating to those interested in the complex processes of empires in general. -- Arthur M. Eckstein, International History Review
[Wells's] clear prose, excellent illustrations, and numerous maps will give his readers a nuanced picture of the Roman frontiers and the peoples who lived there. And all of this is done without falling back on either Tacitus's or Rousseau's 'no savage,' no mean feat. Wells's barbarians are refreshingly matter of fact. -- Steven Muhlberger, American Historical Review
[Wells's] clear prose, excellent illustrations, and numerous maps will give his readers a nuanced picture of the Roman frontiers and the peoples who lived there. And all of this is done without falling back on either Tacitus's or Rousseau's 'no savage,' no mean feat. Wells's barbarians are refreshingly matter of fact. -- Steven Muhlberger, American Historical Review
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
TODAY THE countryside east of the small city of Bramsche on the northern edge of the Teutoburg Forest in northern Germany is a quiet rural landscape of small villages, open fields, and patches of light woodland. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
TODAY THE countryside east of the small city of Bramsche on the northern edge of the Teutoburg Forest in northern Germany is a quiet rural landscape of small villages, open fields, and patches of light woodland. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting and fascinating,
By M. Alther (Michigan) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Barbarians Speak: How the Conquered Peoples Shaped Roman Europe (Paperback)
Most of us in the United States have full or partial European ancestry. The blood ties are there, and beneath that lies the not so distant founding of the European nations and cultures. This is a great book for anyone who wants to delve a little deeper into understanding Europe's founding and culture.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Snobbish and academic,
By
This review is from: The Barbarians Speak: How the Conquered Peoples Shaped Roman Europe (Hardcover)
Wells is one of these post-modern deconstructionist types who thinks everything and anything Western is by very definition decadent and wrong. Rather than helping the reader understand the German and Celtic peoples who lived north of the Roman empire, he basically recasts them as Third World nations subjugated by the imperialists - the noble savage as perpetual victim. Worst of all, he can't write to save his life.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Archaeology For the Rest of Us,
By Chris Osgood (Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Barbarians Speak: How the Conquered Peoples Shaped Roman Europe (Hardcover)
Peter Wells has done a nice job of taking his years of scholarly field research to create a book that is palatable, understandable and readable for the lay person interested in Pre-Roman culture in late Iron Age Europe and the effects and evidence of subsequent Romanization. Was it Napoleon that said "History is written by the victors"? In the case of the Roman interactions and subjugations of European tribes, the Romans were the only ones that could write! It is a painstaking task to recover the bits and pieces of those pre-existing and obviously vigorous cultures. To do so one must use a trowel instead of a library card. Thanks to Peter Wells for his fieldwork, his organizational sense and his enthusiasm for his subject. Us armchair archaeologists appreciate being presented with his fascinating body of knowledge.
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