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| Terry Jones' Barbarians | 
 enlarge | Authors: Terry Jones, Alan Ereira
Publisher: BBC Books
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy Used: £3.20
You Save: £4.79 (60%)
New (40) from £3.58
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 39123
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 4.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 056353916X
Dewey Decimal Number: 937.06
EAN: 9780563539162
ASIN: 056353916X
Publication Date: June 7, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Sent from France promptly anc carefully packaged. Softback. Please allow 7 to 14 days for delivery to UK.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Do jump off your high horse terry.. November 3, 2008
As the other reviewers have said, this series does give some really interesting insights in the civilisations of the so called 'babarians', many of them were advanved and sophisticated, and the romans certainly were a ruthless bunch.
However, i could not help thinking that some of the time mr jones was simply spouting some vitriolic anto roman diatribe, he only focuses on the negative aspects of roman society, and on the bad things that they did. He treats them as though they were the ancient equivalent to Nazi's who suppressed learning and education, and sought to annihilate anyone they didn't particularly like.
He seems to forget that the world was diffrent them, people were more brutal and ruthless, and they people them often would use force and brute strength to conquer others
Whilst at the same time he exalts and appraises the nonroman people's, in particlar the celts, making out thier culture to be some kind of utopian vision of perfection.
Might I add, that the Greeks were not considered barbarians by the Romans, so should they even be included?
On the whole far too biased and narrow minded. I think that Mr Jones is going too far in applying modern attitudes to another age.
 An entertaining and interesting account of the parts of history you don't normally hear February 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have to say that this was probably the best book I read last year. You obviously need to have some interest in history to get everything out of it but it is still extremely accessible. It is apparently a companion to a BBC TV series, but it can't have been advertised very much as I don't recall it. You certainly don't miss anything by not having seen it.
It is a history of what happened outside the Roman Empire and thus doesn't concentrate on the Empire itself (though it has fair bit of information to provide the backdrop) and sometimes comes across as biased against the Romans. However as it says in the intro, this is a concious stance taken to highlight the fact that most accounts of the period, and thus accepted "standard" history, are based on Roman writings very often full of contemporary Roman propaganda and so are themselves heavily biased in favour of the Romans.
The authors also highlight the unconcious prejudice of many modern historians in dealing with the period, particularly the technological achievements of non-Romans.
Aside the technical details this was just a great read, with many illuminating facts on people and races that are often portayed wrongly (The Vandals) or simply ignored (The Dacians). The occasional digressions were always interesting (the Roman legion captured and sent to Mongolia; the finds of clothing in ancient Chinese graves that were identical to Celtic clothing of a much later date), and the general style of the writing is as entertaining as Terry Jones always is. He also gives you a great historical overview of a period you won't have learnt about in school.
I can't recommend this book highly enough.
What the Romans didn't do for us February 19, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Contrary to the absurd statement of one reviewer here, the reason why the barbarians "did not leave so much of a mark as the Romans" had nothing do with them being "better" (whatever that means) and a lot to do with the Roman habit of annihilating entire cultures - witness Gaul, Carthage & Dacia. The other big reason is of course literacy, or lack of it, which meant the Romans were able to put their side of the story while most of their enemies were not.
Terry Jones is not the first person to suggest that maybe the Romans - and not the 'barbarians' - were the really barbaric ones. Indeed there was a TV series & associated book, a few years back on Channel 4 (by Richard Rudgley) that did exactly that. However Jones & Ereira's book is both more entertaining & more convincing than Rudgley's. I can't imagine any fan of ancient history could fail to get something out of this scurrilous and challenging historical essay.
Wonderful reversal of perspective October 3, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Roman history from the barbarians' point of view is itself an interesting idea. Add to this the fun tone of delivery and plenty of information that will offer something new to everyone. But it is not novelty that justifies the highest rating on this book but the mature and wise thoughts about it all on offer.Suitable age 10 upwards. This is not really pop history at all. Loved it.
 A Fresh Perspective That Overstates Its Case March 10, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Does to the Roman Empire what Howard Zinn's works do to America, in that it isn't necessarily a fair-minded appraisal of Rome and the contributions of Barbarians to civilisation but it is a fresh angle to consider Rome from. I suspect he overplays the advancement of some Barbarians such as the Celts and Thracians, but there is not doubt that the traditional view of Persia has been far too negative in the West and Terry Jones provides a useful correction. The discussion of Greek technology before the arrival of Rome is similarly refreshing but again it is clear that he is trying too hard to portray the Romans as thick skulled phillistines who ushered in a dark age wherever the went.
The heavy handed analogies to the USA and the war on terror suggest that the book and series are firmly aimed at the chattering classes and I found it to be a source of irratation but is just about tolerable.
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