Terry Jones' Barbarians - Hardcover

Jones, Terry; Ereira, Alan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0563493186 ISBN 13: 9780563493181

Publisher: BBC Physical Audio, 2006

Synopsis

Terry Jones’ Barbarians takes a completely fresh approach to Roman history. This is the story of the Roman Empire as seen by the Britons, Gauls, Germans, Hellenes, Persians, and Africans. In place of the propaganda pushed on us by the Romans, we’ll see these people as they really were. The Vandals didn’t vandalize—the Romans did. The Goths didn’t sack Rome—the Romans did. Traversing the landscape of the Roman Empire, Terry Jones brings wit, irreverence, and the very latest scholarship to transform a history that seemed well past its sell-date.

About this title

About the Author:

Terry Jones is best-known as a member of Monty Python. He has also written four books on Medieval England and is the author of several children’s books.

Alan Ereira has worked as an award-winning producer and writer of history programs on radio and television for over 40 years, and has collaborated with Terry for ten years on a number of historical films. His previous books include The People’s England, The Invergordon Mutiny, The Heart of the World and (with Terry Jones) Crusades and Terry Jones’ Medieval Lives.
From the Trade Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly:

In the Monty Python film Life of Brian, a member of the People's Front of Judea asks, "What have the Romans ever done for us?" (apart from, of course, the "sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health"). The director of that movie—and now popular historian—Jones (Who Murdered Chaucer?), along with Ereira (The People's England), now answer the question: a bit, but nowhere near as much as the barbarians did. Jones attempts to overturn the popular conception of the glorious Roman Empire, which he says is mostly propaganda, and claims that the barbarians—a general term describing the tribes of western and northern Europe, as well as of the Middle East—have for too long been slandered as "savages" by the allegedly more advanced and civilized Romans and their descendants. In fact, these assorted Celts, Vandals, Persians and Goths were technologically, economically and intellectually sophisticated, but were on the wrong side of history. While scholars will sniff at Jones's offhand humor, somewhat wide-eyed "revelations"—which have been revealed before—and tendency to believe the vastly exaggerated death tolls of the time (he relies on Plutarch's figure that Julius Caesar slaughtered a million Gauls, a virtually impossible feat), readers will go along for a most enjoyable ride and appreciate his fascinating tale of the barbarians' lost world. 24 pages of color photos, maps. (Sept. 15)
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About this edition

• Publisher: BBC Physical Audio
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0563493186
• ISBN 13: 9780563493181
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288