Roger Collins

This book offers a fascinating account of Europe from the fall of the Roman Empire through to the end of the tenth century. In its wide-ranging coverage of the period, it takes into account social, economic and political changes as well as the important cultural changes, including the rise of Islam and the recreation of a western empire under the Cardingians.

Early Medieval Europe, 300-1000, Second Edition

This book is a collection of papers on Frankish historiography in the Merovingian and early Carolingian periods, from the late sixth to early ninth centuries, and studies numerous individual texts, evaluating their witness to the events they describe. It also includes hitherto unpublished items on the so-called Chronicle of Fredegar, in both its original and eighth-century versions, and also an entirely new article on the Merovingian dynastic crisis of 613, along with a general introduction and a bibliography of its author’s writing. Particular attention is focused on the element of deception, deliberate or otherwise, in the narrative accounts of some of the Frankish histories and chronicles and on the way they were written in order to promote specific interpretations of certain individuals and events, or in some cases to conceal their very existence. Certain central episodes such as the imperial coronation of Charlemagne are examined to detect the ways in which they were interpreted and presented in contemporary texts. From Clovis to Charlemagne: Frankish History and Historians will appeal to academics and students interested in the history of early medieval France, the processes of historical composition in that period, the study of manuscripts relating to it and the wider questions about historical understanding and the interpretation of evidence.

From Clovis to Charlemagne: Frankish History and Historians

El profesor Collins estudia aquí una época crucial de la historia de España, en que coincidieron la edad de oro de al-Andalus, cuando Córdoba se convirtió en una de las grandes ciudades del mundo civilizado, y la expansión en el norte de los reinos cristianos de Asturias, León y Navarra, de Castilla y de los condados pirenaicos. Empeñado en ofrecernos una visión crítica, Collins deja al margen los tópicos y leyendas habituales, y se dedica a examinar lo que dicen las fuentes de la época, incluyendo los escasos documentos originales que se han conservado, para mostrarnos la debilidad interna del califato o iluminar aspectos de la sociedad y la vida de los cristianos del norte.

España, 796-1031

Califas y reyes

Este libro forma parte de una gran Historia de España que, bajo la dirección del profesor John Lynch, se propone reflejar el estado actual de nuestros conocimientos. Los lectores españoles, acostumbrados a la visión tradicional de nuestra historia, se verán sin duda sorprendidos por los desmitificadores planteamientos de Collins, quién, tras hacer rigurosa crítica de las fuentes, desmantela buena parte de lo que se nos ha enseñado habitualmente -desde la traición del conde don Julián hasta el inicio de la Reconquista en Covadonga- y nos propone una nueva y muy distinta interpretación de la conquista árabe y del primer siglo de dominio islámico en la Península.

La conquista árabe, 710-797

CALIPHS AND KINGS: SPAIN, 796-1031 The last twenty-five years have seen a renaissance of research and writing on Spanish history. Caliphs and Kings offers a formidable synthesis of existing knowledge as well as an investigation into new historical thinking, perspectives, and methods. The nearly three-hundred-year rule of the Umayyad dynasty in Spain (756-1031) has been hailed by many as an era of unprecedented harmony and mutual tolerance between the three great religious faiths in the Iberian Peninsula – Christianity, Judaism, and Islam – the like of which has never been seen since. And yet, as this book demonstrates, historical reality defies the myth. Though the middle of the tenth century saw a flowering of artistic culture and sophistication in the Umayyad court and in the city of Córdoba, this period was all too shortlived and localized. Eventually, twenty years of civil war caused the implosion of the Umayyad regime. It is through the forces that divided – not united – the disparate elements in Spanish society that we may best glean its nature and its lessons. Caliphs and Kings is devoted to better understanding those circumstances, as historian Roger Collins takes a fresh look at certainties, both old and new, to strip ninth- and tenth-century Spain of its mythic narrative, revealing the more complex truth beneath.

Spain, 796-1031

Caliphs and Kings

Grandpa, what did you do in World War II? Albert Stohl is an old man with a hidden past. He was at Auschwitz. But, not as an inmate. Now he has to tell his story to his daughter and grandchildren. What will they think? How will he explain what he did and why? Will they ever see him the same way again? If you've ever said to yourself "I couldn't have been a perpetrator of the Holocaust," you need to read this book. And then ask yourself. what would YOU do? Well researched and technically detailed, the book takes you behind-the-scenes and into the machinery of Auschwitz and other Nazi death camps, as told from the viewpoint of an engineer. A classic historical fiction tale of an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances. About The Author Roger Collins is a software engineer living near Bodega Bay, California. An avid reader of history, Melting Point is his first published work.

Melting Point

This history of Spain in the period between the end of Roman rule and the time of the Arab conquest challenges many traditional assumptions about the history of this period. Presents original theories about how the Visigothic kingdom was governed, about law in the kingdom, about the Arab conquest, and about the rise of Spain as an intellectual force. Takes account of new documentary evidence, the latest archaeological findings, and the controversies that these have generated. Combines chronological and thematic approaches to the period. A historiographical introduction looks at the current state of research on the history and archaeology of the Visigothic kingdom.

Visigothic Spain 409 - 711

Early Medieval Europe, 300-1000

Patrick Wormald

Donald A. Bullough

These new essays are by a group of English medievalists whose reinterpretations of the 'Dark Ages' are making an increasingly strong impression both in Britain and Europe. The book is broadly concerned, on the one hand, to describe the parallels and contrasts between Frankish and Anglo-Saxon society and, on the other, to examine the complex, often paradoxical, relationship between contemporary social and political ideals and what actually happened. It is designed, too, to reflect and to celebrate the historical scholarship of J. M. Wallace-Hadrill, one of the most original and creative English medievalists of the century. -- Book jacket.

Studies Presented to J.M. Wallace-Hadrill

Ideal and Reality in Frankish and Anglo-Saxon Society

Few human institutions have survived so long and played such a continuously important role in world history and affairs than the Papacy. From the time of St Peter to the present day, this establishment has sought to make sense of contemporary issues. Its story is a long and complicated one, full of incident, ideas and the interplay of personalities. In this masterful single volume, eminent scholar Roger Collins offers an account of the entire arc of papal history, describing how its authority was acquired and exercised, and, in turn, challenged and threatened; how it faced and overcame crises - both from within and without; its relationship with Rome; the tradition of artistic patronage; and the character and policies of individual popes. KEEPERS OF THE KEYS OF HEAVEN is a vivid and revealing portrait of an enduring body, chronicling two thousand years of ambition, scandal, persecution, faith and glory.

Roger Collins

Books

Your next favorite book is out there