This is a prestigious collection of revisionist thinking on the key question of 'how did the middle ages begin?'. Including a wealth of material on the origins of the Barbarian people and their tribes, and a clear introduction to each section, this is an invaluable student reference.

Introduction: Romans, Barbarians and the Transformation of the Roman Empire Part 1: Barbarian Ethnicity and Identity 1. The Crisis of European Identity 2. Gothic History as Historical Ethnography 3. Origo et Religio: Ethnic Traditions and Literature in Early Medieval Texts 4. Does the Distant Past Impinge on the Invasion Age Germans? 5. Defining the Franks: Frankish Origins in Early Medieval Historiography 6. Telling the Difference: Signs of Ethnic Identity 7. Gender and Ethnicity in the Early Middle Ages 8. Archaeologists and Migrations Part 2: Accommodating the Barbarians 9. Movers and Shakers: The Barbarians and the Fall of Rome 10. The Barbarians in Late Antiquity and How They Were Accommodated in the West 11. Foedera and Foederati in the Fourth Century 12. Cities, Taxes and the Accommodation of the Barbarians Part 3: Barbarian and Roman in the Merovingian Kingdom in Gaul 13. Grave Goods and the Ritual Expression of Identity 14. The Two Faces of Childeric: History, Archaeology, Historiography 15. Frankish Victory Celebrations 16. Administrations, Law and Culture in Merovingian Gaul 17. Pax et Disciplina: Roman Public Law and the Merovingian State

'Noble's editorial interventions provide welcome assistance... Moreover, each essay, and each section of the book, is introduced succinctly by Noble, often with a set of questions that are designed to prompt critical reading... I have no doubt that the book will prove immensely useful... an excellent resource... [This book has] great value and broad appeal: anyone with a serious interest in how modern scholars engage with their past will learn much from Noble's superlative collection.' - Classics Ireland'an excellent introductioon... this collection is to be commended.' - Journal of Medieval Archaeology