Barbarians: Secrets of the Dark Ages: Secrets of the Dark Ages by Richard Rudgley

Barbarians: Secrets of the Dark Ages: Secrets of the Dark Ages Reviews

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  Andrew

  An interesting read that is mostly about England’s barbarians. The Celtics (in England) dealing with Romans. Then off to a brief Romans dealing with Huns and Germanic Tribes section. Finally, back to England for the rest of the book to talk about the Anglos, Saxons, and a brief section on Vikings to close.
  
  
• 
  Nev Percy

  This was a good and readable book, but it didn't give me what I was hoping when I bought it.
  
  'Barbarians: Secrets of the Dark Ages' is so racy and commercial a title, I perhaps shouldn't have been surprised when the content failed to live up to the promise. I was happy to read informative stuff across the span of history from the year dot -- or about the year 0 AD, at any rate -- through to the end of Paganism in Europe, as represented by the Christianisation of the Norse. It was all interesting enough. There was quite a concentration on the British Isles, where one would hardly use the term 'barbarian' after the Roman Invasion. And if you're interested in the Anglo-Saxons, this would make a good if not comprehensive introduction.
  I mustn't be too harsh if I knew most of what Rudgely's researches uncovered, and therefore didn't consider them Secrets. But as I was looking for more, this wasn't the book to supply it. It covered the evidence, historical and archaeological, but wasn't the book to breathe life into the facts and offer any new insight into what the life of the 'uncivilised' peoples some might call Barbarians was really like.
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  Oana

  An enjoyable tie-in to a British TV documentary, if at times too fast paced. This survey of the Age of Wandering (as the Dark Ages are called in Germany) provides tantalizing glimpses into a historical period about which most of know little. The book sometimes goes on tangents that weren't entirely tied to the main thread, yet I forgave Rudgley because I did enjoy learning about the Venerable Bede.
  
  Though the book has a short bibliography, it would have been better if it also had endnotes. I would have liked to do some further reading on some of the more obscure points the author made.
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  Christopher Hall

  A poor TV tie in book. Too simplistic and the majority is just taken from the show. I was disappointed because it should be a very interesting subject.