Rating: 
Summary: "Barbarians, from the Outside Looking In"
Review: Bury takes a unique perspective in this work. He describes how the early Germanic peoples migrated, and later penetrated into the confines of the Roman Empire; likewise, he focuses on the flood of Asiatic barbarians as well. Bury does an excellent job portraying the motives of the Barbarians, and how they ended up contributing to the formation of modern Europe. The epic un-barbarianization, rather than the deterioration of the Empire, is the crux of this work. This book is complete,concise, and very time saving for busy students...highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: A Concise, Compelling Chronicle of an Eventful Era
Review: Bury tells of the dismantling of the Roman Empire in the West by the Germanic tribes. This book is based on a series of lectures delivered by Bury at Cambridge University. He begins with a description of German life in the forests outside the Empire and then tells how population pressures and migrations eventually ruptured the border of the Roman Empire, letting in tribe after tribe of German warriors.They came as federates, seldom thinking of themselves as conquerors, seeking to partake of the goodness of Roman civilization, not destroy it. Seen in this light, the Western Empire didn't so much fall as fade away under the successive waves of migrating tribes. Most history books date the fall of the Western Empire from the date on which Odovacer deposed the last Western Emperor, Romulus Augustulus. Bury makes the point that Odovacer and his successors, the Ostrogoths, recognized the authority of the Eastern Emperor. It wasn't until the Lombard invasion that a completely independent German state was set up in Italy. My misconception always was that the Germans were pagan invaders. The major tribes of the invasion were all Christians. They weren't Catholic, they subscribed to the heretical doctrine of Arianism. Bury makes a compelling case that the Ostrogothic kingdom's short existence was caused by the fact that Italy was largely Catholic and hostile to their heretical overlords. It is interesting that the first lasting Germanic kingdom was established by the Frankish king, Clovis, who converted to Catholicism. Bury makes the case that Clovis converted to Catholicism, not because of a battlefield prayer for victory and a sign from heaven, but because of a calculated decision of statecraft by a shrewd politician. Clovis correctly discerned that his rule would be more lasting if he adopted the religion of most of his subjects. A compelling chronicle of a turbulent time peopled with remarkable protagonists. And it is told in masterful fashion. The only shortcoming of the book is the absence of maps. The reader can easily get lost in the arcane geographical references.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent account of the barbarian invasions
Review: From a day when authors did not have to worry about offending people, and history could be truly nigh objective, J. B. Bury gives us a compilation of 15 of his most delicious lectures on the decline of Rome in the West between 375 and 575 A.D. He goes into great detail about the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Franks, Lombards, Vandals, and the Huns. I found this book to be an easy read; the lectures have been conveniently divided into sub-categories, making it even easier to understand the main points of each chapter. The book, while very entertaining, did become VERY boring in one of the Ostrogothic lectures, and I shall warn you, the beginning is moderately slow and boring. Fret not! It goes somewhere, and somewhere very interesting, I shall like to add. Great read, buy it today!
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Summary: Ian Myles Slater with A Note on "Modern"
Review: One of the earlier reviewers of this book expressed surprise that J.B. Bury delivered the lectures on which it is based after being appointed Professor of Modern History. This was not a personal whim. British institutional usage (that is, what was done at Oxford and Cambridge) had long divided time between "Classical" and "Modern." Until well into the twentieth century, medievalists held the "Modern History" chairs. Bury was doing what was expected of him. And very well, I might add. Despite dating from the 1920s, Bury is an excellent place to start, but the fact that these are essentially lectures limits their usefulness. Those seriously interested in more up-to-date information on the period might turn to Peter Heather's "The Goths," and continue with the elaborately documented consideration of the evidence in Herwig Wolfram's "History of the Goths" (translated from the German). The differences between those two books will illuminate how much that Bury could take for granted is now open to debate. Peter Llewellyn's "Rome in the Dark Ages" is easier reading, and concentrates on a single region, but the invaders are incidental players in his narrative.
Rating:
Summary: A Host of Hordes
Review: Renowned classicist Professor J.B. Bury wrote this book - or more particularly that set of lectures upon which this book was based - after he was appointed Professor of Modern History at Cambridge. Apparently he took the view that anything after the death of Christ could be taken as "modern" for these purposes, and thus springs this excellent account of that most cataclysmic event of the first Millenium, the Barbarian Invasions. This book can be read as a counterpoint to Gibbon's Decline and Fall, because it does focus on the invasion from the barbarian point of view. Here we have Goths, Vandals, Huns and Lombards rampaging across Europe and (occasionally) down into Italy as emperors in Byzantine and Ravenna cope as best they can. Bury is very good at marking out the differences between the various tribes and also helps us understand the extent to which the Romans assimilated them. Much of what is now seen as "invasion" was actually osmosis. The influence of these lectures on the teaching ancient and early medieval histories has been so profound that many with a formal education in classics will experience deja-vu. An evergreen account.
Rating:
Summary: A Host of Hordes
Review: Renowned classicist Professor J.B. Bury wrote this book - or more particularly that set of lectures upon which this book was based - after he was appointed Professor of Modern History at Cambridge. Apparently he took the view that anything after the death of Christ could be taken as "modern" for these purposes, and thus springs this excellent account of that most cataclysmic event of the first Millenium, the Barbarian Invasions. This book can be read as a counterpoint to Gibbon's Decline and Fall, because it does focus on the invasion from the barbarian point of view. Here we have Goths, Vandals, Huns and Lombards rampaging across Europe and (occasionally) down into Italy as emperors in Byzantine and Ravenna cope as best they can. Bury is very good at marking out the differences between the various tribes and also helps us understand the extent to which the Romans assimilated them. Much of what is now seen as "invasion" was actually osmosis. The influence of these lectures on the teaching ancient and early medieval histories has been so profound that many with a formal education in classics will experience deja-vu. An evergreen account.
Rating:
Summary: Very thorough presentation with a serious shortage
Review: This book gives an excellent and thorough presentation of the developments in Europe in the early medieval age. However, it has one serious shortcoming: no maps. Being European myself, I have some vague idea of locations mentioned, but i must confess to ignorance relating to the location and borders of the various Roman provinces. Just a sketchy map, showing the natural borders like rivers and mountain ranges would greatly facilitate the understanding of the developments.
Rating:
Summary: Great source, but may be a little dated.
Review: This book has a lot of great information and theories about Barbarian invasions in Europe, but was written several decades ago, and may not show the full spectrum of theories. There have been some more recent theories and revelations that are not included in this book. Still, it goes in-depth into a lot of the topics discussed and I do recommend it. It is considered on of the "classics" in this field.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent account of the barbarian invasions
Review: This is an excellent book that goes into great detail of how the barbarians went into the Roman Empire. It looks at how they were successful in establishing themselves as federates and how they basically became a part of the Roman Empire. It goes into great detail about many of the different barbarian groups. For example, it discusses the Visigoths, the Ostragoths, the Lombards, the Huns, Gepids, and many more. In conclusion, the book shows the side of the barbarians. Too often the barbarians are looked at from the Roman side because that is where most historians get the records from. However, J. B. Bury takes it from the Barbarian side and shows why they wanted to come into the Roman Empire. They really didn't want to destroy it, they just wanted a better way of living. Bury is an easy writer to read and it is written to a way you could teach it because it is broken up into 15 lectures. Highly recommended if you want to learn about the barbarians that invaded the Roman Empire and its outcome.
Rating:
Summary: Clear and Intriguing
Review: This transcription of lectures dates from 1927 yet it still shows up on Norman Cantor's "Core Bibliography in Medieval Studies" (Inventing the Middle Ages, p. 443). There is good reason to continue to include it among a list of works generally of much more recent vintage. Lucid and engaging, Bury presents a convincing case for the idea that the Roman Empire in the West did not "fall" but rather transformed through assimilation of the various Germanic tribes. Bury's description of the extent to which the "barbarians" strove to work within the empire and co-existed with remnants of Roman society are of particular interest. Good companions to this work are "Before France & Germany" (Geary) and "The World of Late Antiquity" (Peter Brown).
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