Rating: 
Summary: In Depth Research/ No Depth Elucidation
Review: A subject which purports to cover seven centuries of religious change, the BARBARIAN CONVERSION is a book which shows no lack of research. However, what it does lack is a proper focus based on historical precedents.Why did pagan Europe adopt Christianity? What were the motives and major societal pressures which required the abandonment of thousands of years of pagan belief and traditions? This reader would have expected an explanation of where initial success was found, how it fed upon itself and expanded. Instead, the author writes a tome which follows little-known monastic leaders on a pilgramage through the European terrain without fixing on the secular leadership, the religious leadership (neither Pagan nor Catholic), or the disputes and heresies within the Church which would have impacted upon the larger societal frameworks. Perhaps the author says it best, when he notes "the reader has been bombarded with unfamiliar names in the course of the last few pages and (if he has not yet flung the book aside) must be cowering in readiness for the next shell to explode its shrapnel of Audoens and Balthilds and Chagnerics and Dagoberts across the scarred and pitted territory of the mind". (p. 146) It is not a ringing endorsment when the author himself knows that his research is so esoteric and undefined that he expects the general reader to abandon any effort to read further. Whether or not the author was biased in his religous endeavors was immaterial. What is more germane is simply that his extensive research has not benefitted from his prose, his editors have failed him, and his effort to explain the process of conversion have yielded no insights. Overall, the processes of conversion as delineated herein remind one of Oscar Wilde's witticism when Nero used the early Christians as living torches -- "the only time in history when Christians have been known to give off any light." The secular and religious pressures which resulted in the mass conversions of vast territories remain unknown after reading this book. On the other hand, one does gain an appreciation for monastic education and experience. Overall, a book with a fascinating premise butttressed by prodigious research which does not yield a valid answer to its subject matter.
Rating: 
Summary: A good overview of an obscure period
Review: An authoritative account of how Christianity made the leap from the disintegrating Roman Empire to the "barbarian" tribes that toppled it -- largely by selling itself as part of the package deal of Roman civilization. Fletcher gives accounts, sometimes amusing, sometimes harrowing, of how Christian missionaries won over the kings and warlords and worried about the common folk later. Amid the stories of sacred groves hacked down and idols burned are many more ambivalent cases where a pagan custom or shrine was simply given a Christian paint job. Fletcher also knows how to find the little details that open up big pictures. Such as the Northumbrian Priests' Law, a code of conduct attributed to Archbishop Wulfstan of York (1000-1023) that laid down four rules for the Anglo-Saxon men of God: Clergy must shave regularly, must not bring their weapons to church, must try to keep out of fights, and must not perform as "ale minstrels."
Rating:
Summary: Baptizing Pagans For Fun and Profit
Review: Fletcher's Conversion of Europe is a treasury of "strange but true" stories. For instance, St. Patrick was not Irish - at least not by birth. He probably came from Britain. Also, despite the best intentions of Papal messengers, only one country, Portugal, abandoned "pagan" names for the days and months (e.g. Thursday = Thor's day; March = month of Mars). And the piece de resistance: those who brought the True Faith to Germany were reluctant to teach ALL of the bible to the Hun, for fear that the gory bits in the Old Testament - especially the Wars of David - would arouse their savage instincts. Every corner of Europe is explored - including Iceland (assuming we can call that Europe!). This is a terrific resource for those interested in the Dark Ages and early Medieval period.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant work of history
Review: Fletcher's _The Barbarian Conversion_ is the best book on this subject I have read. As a longtime student of the early medieval era, I enjoyed Fletcher's perceptive and astute elucidation of this well-buried era. In some sections of the book, I had read (often repeatedly) every primary source mentioned, and I was continually astonished at the way he drew new insights out of familiar material. Although the middle section does drag a bit (particularly the chapter about the conversion of Scandinavia and Viking settlements), on the whole I love the author's style, his penchant for witty comments, and his eye for humor in his material. Seldom has a book on the early Middle Ages made me laugh out loud as much as this one. It's the details--a woman's garment that shows the adoption of Byzantine necklace fashions, the Greenlander who purchases a bishop for his fledgling settlement with a live polar bear--that bring history to life, and this book is full of them. Never forgetting the complexities of his material, and often showing that the line between Christians and pagans was never firm, Fletcher illuminates an often obscure story. I also want to add that this book provides the best overview of the situation of the Jews in Europe during the early Middle Ages that I have ever seen (and I have been looking). Most authors begin with the persecutions of 1096 and only toss off a line about the tolerance that marked the first 500 years of the Middle Ages; Fletcher actually examines the tensions and accomodations during those centuries, and his account has thoroughly persuaded me that looking at the fluidity between Judaism and Christianity casts a needed light on the larger characters of both religions at that moment in history. Likewise, his extensive treatment of the conversions of the Slavic and Baltic regions alongside the more familiar terrain of Western Europe is a welcome reminder that the history of the Middle Ages must include Eastern Europe. Although only a devotee of the subject matter would want to read a 500-odd page book on the barbarian conversions, a medievalist who does will be richly rewarded.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant work of history
Review: Fletcher's _The Barbarian Conversion_ is the best book on this subject I have read. As a longtime student of the early medieval era, I enjoyed Fletcher's perceptive and astute elucidation of this well-buried era. In some sections of the book, I had read (often repeatedly) every primary source mentioned, and I was continually astonished at the way he drew new insights out of familiar material. Although the middle section does drag a bit (particularly the chapter about the conversion of Scandinavia and Viking settlements), on the whole I love the author's style, his penchant for witty comments, and his eye for humor in his material. Seldom has a book on the early Middle Ages made me laugh out loud as much as this one. It's the details--a woman's garment that shows the adoption of Byzantine necklace fashions, the Greenlander who purchases a bishop for his fledgling settlement with a live polar bear--that bring history to life, and this book is full of them. Never forgetting the complexities of his material, and often showing that the line between Christians and pagans was never firm, Fletcher illuminates an often obscure story. I also want to add that this book provides the best overview of the situation of the Jews in Europe during the early Middle Ages that I have ever seen (and I have been looking). Most authors begin with the persecutions of 1096 and only toss off a line about the tolerance that marked the first 500 years of the Middle Ages; Fletcher actually examines the tensions and accomodations during those centuries, and his account has thoroughly persuaded me that looking at the fluidity between Judaism and Christianity casts a needed light on the larger characters of both religions at that moment in history. Likewise, his extensive treatment of the conversions of the Slavic and Baltic regions alongside the more familiar terrain of Western Europe is a welcome reminder that the history of the Middle Ages must include Eastern Europe. Although only a devotee of the subject matter would want to read a 500-odd page book on the barbarian conversions, a medievalist who does will be richly rewarded.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but too long
Review: I don't have much to add to the other reviews which delve into the book's content. I agree that Fletcher does a great job of teasing out as much as he can from the limited historical material available on his subject. One thing that annoyed me was Fletcher's continuing assertion that there was only a very limited amount of solid historical evidence to work with, but then he goes on and on. I really question whether his work needed to be 500+ pages long. He could have been much more concise. This volume is probably best suited to professional historians, or hard-core medievalists. For others I would recommend a book like "How the Irish Saved Civilization".
Rating:
Summary: Great information but a little zzzzzzz...
Review: In The Barbarian Conversion Richard Fletcher enlightens his readers with the story of Europe's conversion to Christianity. He gives in-depth hindsight analysis and anecdotal support and grants vast amount of knowledge upon the reader. While all of this is great and it makes the book definitely worth reading Fletcher has a tendency to occasionally go on and on on certain points and as a section wears on the narrative starts to sound like a lecture instead of a book. Fletcher, probably unintentionally, makes it very clear that he is a professor. Overall the work was gratifyingly worth the effort and enlightened me on a little-discussed period of history but it also made my eyelids a little droopy.
Rating:
Summary: A detailed history of the Early Middle Ages
Review: Richard Fletcher has written an exceptional work here. From the moment you open it several things are clear. Firstly, Mr. Fletcher speaks with obvious authority and knows the subject extremely well. He speaks about the most obscure characters and texts with striking familiarity. It is also apparent that he is a well read, high brow European and his writing is sometimes awkward to the American ear. Perhaps Fletcher's greatest acheivement is piecing together a comprehensive history from a time in which very little was recorded and preserved. He never gives too much weight to a particular source document, always weighing an author's account against any biases or hidden agendas. The conversion of just about every group in western Europe is covered in detail and Fletcher gives us a well rounded chronicle of religious conversion on both the personal and societal level. He also never fails to iterate any or all of the reasons why an individual or people might convert. Fletcher can be accused of going into too much detail at times. The chapters tend flow in biographies from one obscure monk to another with very little overview in between. This makes for difficult reading in the middle chapters. However, given the lack of published materials on the subject, this error can be overlooked. Stellar research, recommended reading for any scholar of religious change or of the early middle ages.
Rating:
Summary: The Growth of Christianity in Medieval Times
Review: Richard Fletcher's book, the Barbarian Conversion, is a very thorough look at the switch from paganism to Christianity during the Middle Ages, particulary in Northern and Eastern Europe. It is beautifully researched and covers the topic with great exhaustion over a wide area of chronolgical history. The story does have certain repeating themes as Christianity spreads which could, at times, test the interest of the reader. It also seems, at various stages in the book, that force and authority as a means of Christianizing a people is minimized at the expense of presenting the inherent qualities of the religion itself. The sections that show how the people themselves fought against Chritianity and maintained thier own religion help to balance this to a certain extent. The bias of the sources is also at work here as most of the original sources would have been Christain. A good book on topic that needs more work.
Rating:
Summary: The Growth of Christianity in Medieval Times
Review: Richard Fletcher's book, the Barbarian Conversion, is a very thorough look at the switch from paganism to Christianity during the Middle Ages, particulary in Northern and Eastern Europe. It is beautifully researched and covers the topic with great exhaustion over a wide area of chronolgical history. The story does have certain repeating themes as Christianity spreads which could, at times, test the interest of the reader. It also seems, at various stages in the book, that force and authority as a means of Christianizing a people is minimized at the expense of presenting the inherent qualities of the religion itself. The sections that show how the people themselves fought against Chritianity and maintained thier own religion help to balance this to a certain extent. The bias of the sources is also at work here as most of the original sources would have been Christain. A good book on topic that needs more work.
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