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Edward James
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The Franks Hardcover – January 1, 1988

by Edward James (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 26 ratings
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The Franks first come to light in historical sources in the third century A.D. as a group of undistinguished barbarians living in the marshy lowlands north and east of the Rhine frontier of the Roman Empire. Within three centuries they had become the most powerful of all of the barbarian kingdoms, the effective heirs of the Roman Empire, and the founders of France. In 800, a Frank, Charlemagne, was crowned in Rome as the first Emperor of Germanic origins. Using both contemporary documents and the evidence provided by thousands of archaeological excavations over the last century, the author traces the history of the Franks from barbarism to civil and military dominance in Northern Europe. He describes the evolution of their society and culture, of their religion and conversion to Christianity, and their conquests and methods of ruling. In the final chapter he considers their influence on the history of modern Europe.
Previous page
  1. Reading age
    1 year and up
  2. Print length
    1000 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Basil Blackwell
  5. Publication date
    January 1, 1988
  6. ISBN-10
    0631148728
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0631148722
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Franks began as a loose confederacy of undistinguished barbarians from the marshy Rhine lowlands. In the third century they attacked Rome, but within 300 years, as rulers of Gaul, Frankish aristocrats became partial heirs to Rome, extending their dominion over much of Western Europe by appointing counts and dukes to rule in their name. This careful account by a senior lecturer in history at the University of York in England uses archeological evidence to fill in the Franks' often obscure history in the five centu ries before Charlemagne (a Frank) was crowned Emperor of Rome in 800 A.D. Crammed with pictures of forts, burial artifacts, coins, bowls and jewelry, the volume is primarily for scholars, but the general reader will enjoy such details as the symbolism of Frankish clothing, the sanctioned custom of family feuds to end disputes and King Guntram's reputed miracle-working and healing powers.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basil Blackwell (January 1, 1988)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 1000 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0631148728
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0631148722
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 1 year and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.4 pounds
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 26 ratings

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Edward James

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4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
26 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Triumphal Reads
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2017
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I was looking forward to read The Franks by Edward James as it is a volume of The Peoples of Europe series that I plan on reading. I was not disappointed. The focus of this book was on the Merovingian Period of Frankish history, which was a big plus since the Carolingians and Charlemagne generally steal the spotlight. While I have a few critiques, overall I was pleased with this book.
Let's start with the few negatives. First, when sources are quoted, only in a few instances are they actually fully cited. Sometimes the author or name of the work is given but then the location of the passage in the stated work is not. A few times no information regarding the quote is given. In a book of over 200 pages with loads of information (a good thing) and source material, there are only twenty-four detailed footnotes. Secondly, while the analysis of cemeteries and burials are important for reconstructing aspects of the Franks, this can become tedious in this volume as it is brought up multiple times in great detail and depth. This is especially true when locations of these archaeological sites/finds are basically brought up and listed and then discussed each in turn. Still, there are many more positives than negatives in this volume.
First of all, the book is of great quality and uses heavy paper. Next, the author provides a great bibliography at the end of the book. In the contents of the book there are many great figures and plates to visually depict or represent many of the points made by the author and some of the images and maps are outstanding. Concerning the writing, the author does a good job trying to make sense of who the Franks were, usually based on meager evidence and source material. He does a fine job at describing what can be explained, but also showing restraint when there are things we simply cannot know, at least for now, and doesn't care to speculate beyond reason. He strikes a great balance between a political historical narrative and the social and economic facets of Frankish society. In regards to the political narrative, the author does well in trying to tease out the chronology of what happened in a very chaotic era full of political machinations. Lastly, I felt that the author was best at pointing out the futility of trying to determine what was technically "Gallic," "Roman," "Germanic," "Gallo-Roman," "Frankish," etc. While some general assumptions can be made, it is not easy to draw fine lines with these terms as previous historians had done (many times for ethnic/national reasons.) What was more important was that Merovingian or Frankish culture was, in essence, its own unique blend. He establishes this point throughout the book and lets the reader know up front on how "the Franks" really doesn't have an absolute meaning anyways (page 9.) He ends the book with an excellent section on the "Frankish Myth" and how other groups have either embraced or avoided associating themselves with the Franks throughout history down to our own day in modern France and Germany.
Overall I found this volume an excellent read and I will look for more books by the author, Edward James, as well as check out other books in the Peoples of Europe series.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
4 people found this helpful
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Dora A. Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars Informative, worth the money, has some holes in it
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2015
Verified Purchase
Pretty good. Not perfect. Doesn't straighten out the historical, archealogical, behavioral and language links between Saxons and Franks and Frisians, which is a major hole in the writing on this field. What are those? Well, I myself could use to know ALOT more about it.

They outright omitted pertinent history of the Salien Franks that bears on their possible origins and how they came to power.

It was worth the money I spent on it, and since I don't have much to spend I don't spend money on books easily.

One thing that was especially valuable was a solid review of who and what the Frankish kings were, which is very different than everything I've ever read before.
8 people found this helpful
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James VanLaningham
5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly but accessible.
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2014
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First rate, accesible survey of the history and culture of the Franks. The book focuses almost entirely on the period between the late 5th century, as a "Frankish" identity emerged from what had initially been a federation of smaller tribes, and the 7th century, when that identity became "French". Not coincidentally, this is the period of the Merovingian kings, who conquered, assimilated and were assimilated by the other peoples living in Roman Gaul. The book discusses in depth the history, culture and lifeways of the Franks. It cautiously notes the paucity of reliable historical sources and the ambiguous nature of much of the archaeology of this time and place; one gets the impression that this caution stems from the unjustified certainty of much of the older scholarship of the period. The book will appeal to the historian, the archeologist and the interested lay person, and is a superb contribution to the study of ethnogenesis. Highly recommended.
3 people found this helpful
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B. Boyd
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2015
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It's informative but a bit scholarly. More maps with current location overlays would have been helpful as well.
One person found this helpful
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R. Hazell
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2014
Verified Purchase
Informative, scholarly, yet written with a sense of humor. I'll never look at the contents of graves the same way. And he liberated me from what I was taught in high school: that the Church magically kept civilization alive while barbarians destroyed all that was left of the Roman Empire.
One person found this helpful
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Caleb Hanson
4.0 out of 5 stars Speaking Frankly
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2011
General overview of early (pre-Carolingian) history of the Franks, especially the conversion to Catholicism and the conquests of Clovis and sons; a little about society and economics; some review of the relative contributions of written history, archaeology, linguistic evidence, etc.; and some consideration of the questions of "Just who were the Franks?" and "Who are the real ancestors of France, the Franks or the Gauls?" (or "Where did they come from, where did they go?"). Like some others in the "Peoples of Europe" series, James manages to sneak a few new and intriguing interpretations into a book that presents as a general survey of literature.
5 people found this helpful
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Steven P Robinson
5.0 out of 5 stars Ancestral Information.
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2014
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In my family research I have found not just French ancestry, but Frankish. This book looked to be a good launching point, and at first glance, I made a good choice.

BTW, kudos to the vendor, book arrived in better than advertised condition and quicker than initial shipping estimate.
2 people found this helpful
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ann parker
2.0 out of 5 stars The Franks
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2012
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The book was in excellent condition except the fact that it does not have the outside cover to illustrate what the book is.
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Top reviews from other countries

jaappe
3.0 out of 5 stars ... 2nd hand for not many I was a little disappointed by the-in my eyes- many purple lines under the ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 12, 2018
Verified Purchase
I bought the book 2nd hand for not many I was a little disappointed by the-in my eyes- many purple lines under the sentences , on quite some pages ,more than I had expected from what I had read in description of the book .but on the other hand it was not really expensive ,what may one expect?
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