AnyBook4Less.com
Find the Best Price on the Web
Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Developed by Fintix
Home  |  Store List  |  FAQ  |  Contact Us  |  
 
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money

Dudo of St Quentin: History of the Normans : Translation with Introduction and Notes

Please fill out form in order to compare prices
Title: Dudo of St Quentin: History of the Normans : Translation with Introduction and Notes
by Eric Christiansen
ISBN: 0-85115-552-9
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Pub. Date: 02 July, 1998
Format: Hardcover
Volumes: 1
List Price(USD): $90.00
Your Country
Currency
Delivery
Include Used Books
Are you a club member of: Barnes and Noble
Books A Million Chapters.Indigo.ca

Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

Customer Reviews

Rating: 5
Summary: A valuable and entertaining (if expensive) Norman chronicle
Comment: Dudo of Saint-Quentin wrote his History of the Normans, a story about the first three rulers of Normandy and their origins, in the early 11th century. Ever since then, his work has been controversial to say the least. Historians on the whole have been highly dubious of the book, because it is manifestly inaccurate in its historical details, yet we have been unwilling to give it up since it is virtually the only source we have for very early Norman history. Recently, however, some scholars have begun to cut Dudo a little more slack, realizing that he should be seen not as an objective historian of the 10th century, but rather as a propagandist of the 11th century, and that he should be appreciated for what he was, not condemned for what we wish he had been.

One problem is that Dudo's work has been largely inaccessible. The only edition of his Latin text was published in 1865, and by modern standards is not very good. The History of the Normans has never been fully! translated into any modern language. But now, that lack is being redeemed in spades. Not only is a new critical edition with translation into French in the works by Dudo's leading modern historian, Pierre Bouet, but Eric Christiansen's English translation has just been published.

This translation is doubly valuable. First, the translation itself is both fairly true to Dudo's often pompous, bloated style while at the same time being readable - a nifty trick. The story comes to life, and is accompanied by copious notes (regrettably at the back of the book, rather than at the foot of the pages, no doubt because of the notes' length) which elucidate the historical and intellectual background of the book, and explain obscure references that otherwise would slip right by the modern reader. And second, the introduction is as of this writing the best brief introduction to early Norman history and its intellectual milieu. Christiansen fully recognizes Dudo's unreliability as a! historical sources, while fully appreciating his ability a! s a literary author of the Carolingian age. He also argues (to my mind convincingly) against the view many historians have of early Normandy as a Carolingian principality, with the Viking settlers (Norman is simply the medieval Latin word for Viking) quickly assimilating into Frankish culture; Christiansen is much more willing than most scholars to acknowledge the Scandinavian side of the early Normans. His overview of the early Norman world is sane, balanced, and indispensable.

In short, Dudo's History of the Normans is essential for the Norman scholar, valuable for the medieval historian, and entertaining for the general reader interested in the Middle Ages. My only regret is that the book is priced so that only libraries and desperate specialists will be able to buy it; one hopes that Boydell & Brewer will recognize its potentially broad appeal and some day issue a more affordable paperback edition.

Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!

Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments

Powered by Apache