I've recently read "How the West won" by Rodney Stark. I know, it's a bit passionate (and explicit) about restoring the old eurocentric view of european history. Some would say it's a piece of propaganda.
Anyway, let's put this aside, because reading the part about the fall of the Western Empire surprised me: Stark views it in a positive light, and describes the barbarians as more militarly advanced as the roman armies (which after the Diocletian reforms grew larger but less effective).
He also argues that the roman army relied less and less on infantry, making it less disciplined and protected (in the V century the roman soldier only had an helmet and maybe a breastplate), and at the same time cavalry grew more clad in armor.
Also, he describes the "barbarian tribes" as more advanced than we think, and argues that they introduced many innovations in the ex roman West: better river navigation, metallurgy (he says there are iron factories in Northern Europe), horse breeding, heavy plough, wind and water mills (which were known in the roman world but rarely used), horse collar.
He sees the urban decline as a mere shift to the North, because many cities were founded on the North Sea.
An interesting point he makes is that even during roman times there were developed markets in Northern Europe, even Sweden, which already had contacts with the East (in Helgo industrial complex there were coins, even a Buddha statue from India).
Stark argues that the Pirenne's thesis doesn't consider the shift from the Mediterranean to the Northern rivers.
So, after this long introduction, my question is: are there any books or sources about Northern Europe during and after roman times that challenge the classic view of the germanic polities (tribes or kingdoms) in the North?
Anyway, let's put this aside, because reading the part about the fall of the Western Empire surprised me: Stark views it in a positive light, and describes the barbarians as more militarly advanced as the roman armies (which after the Diocletian reforms grew larger but less effective).
He also argues that the roman army relied less and less on infantry, making it less disciplined and protected (in the V century the roman soldier only had an helmet and maybe a breastplate), and at the same time cavalry grew more clad in armor.
Also, he describes the "barbarian tribes" as more advanced than we think, and argues that they introduced many innovations in the ex roman West: better river navigation, metallurgy (he says there are iron factories in Northern Europe), horse breeding, heavy plough, wind and water mills (which were known in the roman world but rarely used), horse collar.
He sees the urban decline as a mere shift to the North, because many cities were founded on the North Sea.
An interesting point he makes is that even during roman times there were developed markets in Northern Europe, even Sweden, which already had contacts with the East (in Helgo industrial complex there were coins, even a Buddha statue from India).
Stark argues that the Pirenne's thesis doesn't consider the shift from the Mediterranean to the Northern rivers.
So, after this long introduction, my question is: are there any books or sources about Northern Europe during and after roman times that challenge the classic view of the germanic polities (tribes or kingdoms) in the North?