Barbarians to angels: the Dark Ages reconsidered

Description

Between antiquity and the Middle Ages: what happened? -- ThHe decline of the Roman Empire -- The peoples of Europe -- Childeric and other early Dark Age kings -- What happened to the Roman cities? -- Roman Londinium to Saxon Lundenwic: continuity and change (A.D. 43-800) -- New centers in the north -- The revolution in the country side -- Crafting tools and ornaments for the new societies -- Royal exchange and everyday trade -- Spread of the new religion -- Arts, scholarship, and education -- Charlemagne's elephant and the history of Europe.;Peter Wells, one of the world's leading archaeologists, surveys the archaeological record to demonstrate that the Dark Ages were not dark at all. The kingdoms of Christendom that emerged starting in the ninth century sprang from a robust, previously little-known European culture, albeit one that left behind few written texts. --from publisher description