Charlemagne: Father of a Continent

The most important study of Charlemagne in a generation, this biography by distinguished medievalist Alessandro Barbero illuminates both the man and the world in which he lived. Charles the Great―Charlemagne―reigned from a.d. 768 to a.d. 814. At the time if his death, his empire stretched across Europe to include Bavaria, Saxony, parts of Spain, and Italy. With a remarkable grasp of detail and a sweeping knowledge of Carolingian institutions and economy, Barbero not only brings Charlemagne to life with accounts of his physical appearance, tastes and habits, family life, and ideas and actions but also conveys what it meant to be king of the Franks and, later, emperor. He recounts how Charlemagne ruled his empire, kept justice, and waged wars. He vividly describes the nature of everyday life at that time, how the economy functioned, and how Christians perceived their religion. Barbero's absorbing analysis of how concepts of slavery and freedom were subtly altered as feudal relations began to grow underscores the dramatic changes that the emperor's wars brought to the political landscape. Engaging and informed by deep scholarship, this latest account provides a new and richer context for considering one of history's most fascinating personalities.

Biographies & Memoirs

Barbero, Alessandro

Historical

University of California Press

At Waterloo, some 70,000 men under Napoleon and an equal number under Wellington faced one another in a titanic and bloody struggle. In the end, as John Keegan notes, contemporaries felt that Napoleon's defeat had "reversed the tide of European history." Even 190 years later, the name Waterloo resounds. 
Italian historian Alessandro Barbero's majestic new account stands apart from previous British and French histories by giving voice to all the nationalities that took part. Invoking the memories of British, French, and Prussian soldiers, Barbero meticulously re-creates the conflict as it unfolded, from General Reille's early afternoon assault on the chateau of Hougoumont, to the desperate last charge of Napoleon's Imperial Guard as evening settled in. From privates to generals, Barbero recounts individual miracles and tragedies, moments of courage and foolhardiness, skillfully blending them into the larger narrative of the battle's extraordinary ebb and flow. One is left with indelible images: cavalry charges against soldiers formed in squares; the hand-to-hand combat around farmhouses; endless cannon balls and smoke. And, finally, a powerful appreciation of the inevitability and futility of war.

The Battle: A New History of Waterloo

History

Americas

Walker Books

The Day of the Barbarians: The Battle That Led to the Fall of the Roman Empire

On August 9, 378 AD, at Adrianople in the Roman province of Thrace (now western Turkey), the Roman Empire began to fall. Two years earlier, an unforeseen flood of refugees from the East Germanic tribe known as the Goths had arrived at the Empire's eastern border, seeking admittance. Though usually successful in dealing with barbarian groups, in this instance the Roman authorities failed. Gradually coalesced into an army led by Fritigern, the barbarian horde inflicted on Emperor Valens the most disastrous defeat suffered by the Roman army since Hannibal's victory at Cannae almost 600 years earlier. The Empire did not actually fall for another century, but some believe this battle signaled nothing less than the end of the ancient world and the start of the Middle Ages.
With impeccable scholarship and narrative flair, renowned historian Alessandro Barbero places the battle in its historical context, chronicling the changes in the Roman Empire, west and east, the cultural dynamics at its borders, and the extraordinary administrative challenge in holding it together. Vividly recreating the events leading to the clash, he brings alive leaders and common soldiers alike, comparing the military tactics and weaponry of the barbarians with those of the disciplined Roman army as the battle unfolded on that epic afternoon. Narrating one of the turning points in world history, The Day of the Barbarians is military history at its very best.

The elusive and unstable realities of Gorbachev's Russia prove to be fertile ground for Alessandro Barbero's great skills as a storyteller, and this masterpiece, The Anonymous Novel, is full of many varied characters and the discussion of endless themes concerning not only the Soviet Union and it final days but also, dare one say it, the human condition in any age and any country. It is very much the complete novel, doing everything a novel can and should do, and doing it in a masterly fashion. One surprising element of the book, which is also an opportunity for the author to express very subtly his admiration for Russian literature and culture, is the authenticity of the narration. The Western reader may feel that this is a sleight of hand, but Russian readers of the Italian original and the English translation can confirm its accuracy, which is based on careful historical research into journalistic and literary records, as well as some other sources. This book is a compelling read, but it is also a wonderful mix of the profound and the witty.

The Anonymous Novel: Sensing the Future Torments

Literature & Fiction

Literary

Vagabond Voices

Winner of the Alessandro Manzoni Prize for Fiction Venice at the end of the 1500s is an unforgiving city. The Doge rules with an iron fist and the Holy Office harbors suspicions about everything and everyone. Even the walls have eyes. The Republic of Venice watches and listens, then passes judgment swiftly and definitively. In a city where everyone is assumed guilty of something, a young stonemason by the name of Michele has been accused of a crime he didn’t commit. Afraid for his life, he flees the city aboard a galley carrying gold coin, leaving behind his young wife, Bianca. Banished from his home, Michele embarks on a series of extraordinary adventures as the ship he travels on stops in every port and on every island of the Mediterranean. In order to survive this once naïve and immature boy must fast become a man, one possessed of cunning, courage and fortitude.Bianca remains alone in the cruel and treacherous Venice. She faces challenges that are, if anything, even more difficult than those of Michele, and will encounter all the terrors and mysteries that the labyrinthine city holds in its blind alleys and narrow passageways. And she, like Michele, will discover in herself a tenacious and indestructible will to survive.

The Eyes of Venice

Genre Fiction

Europa Editions

The Athenian Women presents a powerful vision of class struggle, the subjugation of women under a patriarchal system, and the courage needed to change the course of history. Athens, 411 BC. In the countryside, Trasillo and Polemone, two veterans of the infamous battle of Mantinea, now live in adjacent cottages as humble farmers. They are determined to improve their lot by finding influential husbands for their daughters, Glicera and Charis. However, sensing that a violent political scheme is secretly afoot, the two friends agree that first they must defend Athens from oligarchs who are plotting to reinstate tyrannical rule. Charis and Glicera are convinced their fathers are being paranoid and, impatient, set about finding suitors themselves. Cimone, the rich and arrogant son of their neighbor Eubulo, soon becomes the object of their desire. When the men travel to Athens to see Aristophanes’ latest comedy, the girls, far from their fathers’ watchful eyes, break social order and accept an invitation to Cimone’s house. While this romantic drama plays out in the countryside, from the stage, the Athenian Lysistrata and the Spartan Lampito raise their voices in protest against misogyny and war, calling into question the status quo that Athenians have accepted for centuries. Alessandro Barbero captures an Athens that feels extraordinarily contemporary, where citizens concerned about their freedoms choose to act and create change.

The Athenian Women: A Novel

Dante&nbsp;brings the legendary author--and the medieval Italy of his era-- to vivid life, describing the political intrigue, battles, culture, and society that shaped his writing.&nbsp; Dante Alighieri's&nbsp;Divine Comedy&nbsp;has defined how people imagine and depict heaven and hell for over seven centuries. However, outside of Italy, his other works are not well known, and less still is generally known about the context he wrote them in. In Dante, Barbero brings the legendary author's Italy to life, describing the political intrigue, battles, city and society that shaped his life and work. The son of a shylock who dreams of belonging to the world of writers and nobles, we follow Dante into the dark corridors of politics where ideals are shattered by rampant corruption, and then into exile as he travels Italy and discovers the extraordinary color and variety of the countryside, the metropolises, and the knightly courts.&nbsp; This is a book by a serious scholar with real popular appeal, as evidenced by its bestseller ranking in Italy.&nbsp;It is a remarkable piece of forensic investigation into medieval Italian life.

Dante: A Life

Arts & Literature

Pegasus Books

On 9 Augues, 378 AD, at Adrianople in the Roman province of Thrace, the Roman Empire began to fall. Two years earlier, a flood of refugees from the East Germanic tribe known as the Goths had arrived at the Empire's eastern border, seeking admittance. Gradually forming an army, the barbarian horde inflicted on Emperor Valens the most disastrous defeat suffered by the Roman army since Hannibal's victory at Cannae almost 600 years earlier. The Empire did not actually fall for anthor century but, as renowned historian Alessandro Barbero shows, this battle signaled nothing less than the end of the ancient world and the start of the Middle Ages. 
 Vividly recreating the events leading up to the conflict, and bringing alive leaders and common soldiers alike, The Day of the Barbarians is a heart-stopping account of one of the most significant turning points in world history.

Day of the Barbarians: The First Battle in the Fall of the Roman Empire

Ancient Civilizations

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Day of the Barbarians

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Books by Barbero, Alessandro

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Barbero, Alessandro. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Charlemagne: Father of a Continent

Charlemagne: Father of a Continent

The Battle: A New History of Waterloo

The Day of the Barbarians: The Battle That Led to the Fall of the Roman Empire

The Anonymous Novel: Sensing the Future Torments

The Eyes of Venice

The Athenian Women: A Novel

Dante: A Life

Day of the Barbarians: The First Battle in the Fall of the Roman Empire

Day of the Barbarians