Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World

In this innovative study, Patrick Geary rejects traditional conceptions of European history to present the Merovingian period (ca. 400-750) as an integral part of Late Antiquity. Mapping the complex interactions of a volatile era, he formulates an original interpretation not only of Merovingian history but of the Romano-barbarian world, tracing the Romanization of barbarians and the barbarization of the Romans which ultimately made these populations indistinguishable.