The First Millennium AD in Europe and the Mediterranean

• 1. Introduction; 2. The historical framework; AD 0–200; AD 200–400; AD 400–600; AD 600–800; AD 800–1000; 3. The physical setting; General physical conditions; Climatic change; Agriculture and erosion; Cultivated plants; Domestic animals; 4. Rural settlement; Roman Italy; The Mediterranean in the Roman period; The Near East; Temperate Western Europe in the Roman period; The Danube area in the Roman period; Western Europe in the post-Roman period; Northern Europe; 5. Towns and other centres; Classification; Size and distribution of Roman towns; Late Roman fortifications; Churches, mosaics, and inscriptions; Roman forts; 6. Production and exchange; Development of water transport; Roman pottery; Coins; Exchange in Central and Northern Europe; 7. Society, culture and mentality; Burial; Social inequality; The visible and the invisible; 8. Archaeology and historiography; From the Roman Empire to the Middle Ages; In the shadow of the empire; Transformations; Epilogue and prologue; Appendices; References; Index.

'He outlines the rise of medieval western Europe from the ruins of the classical world in an intelligent and readable account … he marshals a wealth of data to offer a penetrating analysis of the dynamics of culture change during a period that saw the creation of Europe as we recognise it today. This is a particularly valuable book for students.' New Scientist