The Barbarian Invasions - by Hans Delbruck & Delbr'uck (Paperback)

About the Book

Translation of: Geschichte der Kriegskunst im Rahmen der politischen Geschichte.

Book Synopsis

Moral decadence did not contribute to the fall of the Roman Empire, but political instability that was most strongly reflected in a weakened army did, writes Hans Delbrück in volume 2 of History of the Art of War. The rise of sectionalism and the constant overthrowing of emperors left the empire without a secure superior authority demanding the loyalty of the legions and without the money to support them. Delbrück's celebrated work traces the collapse of the Roman military system and its replacement with barbarian mercenaries by the fourth century, following the invasions by the Germanic peoples.

The Barbarian Invasions opens with a discussion of the military organization of the early German tribes, compares it with that of the early Roman legions, and goes on to show how tactics and strategies changed after entire peoples such as the Goths, Vandals, and Burgundians migrated to Roman soil and formed an uneasy alliance with the Romans. It ends with an examination of the decline of the Germanic-Romanic military system in the Middle Ages and the rise of the feudal system.

This Bison Book edition marks the first appearance in paperback of the English translation of volume 2 by Walter J. Renfroe Jr.

From the Back Cover

From the eighth century through the Middle Ages feudalism determined the nature of European warfare. Medieval Warfare begins in the time of Charlemagne, who maintained a military system of freemen and of vassals bound to him in service for lands granted in fief. These pages are crowded with re-creations of famous events like the Battle of Hastings and movements like the Crusades; with the brightest flowers of knighthood, and with the mercenary grandeur of Byzantium.

Review Quotes

"Delbrück is internationally regarded as the first modern military historian. History of the Art of War, considered a classic, is his foundational achievement. Renfroe's translation retains the spirited erudition of the original German and renders it into elegant and readable English. Beyond a doubt a landmark in twentieth-century historical literature."--Arden Bucholz, author of Hans Delbrück and the German Military Establishment

"This volume affects most deeply . . . our inherited concepts of world history, through its elimination of the legendary ideas on the fall of the ancient world and on the migrations of peoples (Volkerwanderung), as well as its positive contributions, especially those concerning the substantiation of the alliance between Constantine and the Christian Church as postulate of the changed military system and institutions."--Hans Delbrück