Preface 1. Mohammed, Charlemagne and Pirenne 2. The Decline of the Western Empire The historical setting - Long-distance trade - Rural settlement in Italy - Rome - Summary 3. The Eastern Mediterranean, 500-850 The archaeological evidence - Byzantium and the Arabs -The Dark Ages-Conclusion 4. North Sea Trade and Commerce, 500-800 The historical setting - Urban decay - Trade routes and trading stations 5. Charlemagne and the Viking Connection The finances of the Carolingian Renaissance - Baltic trade 6. The Abbasid Caliphate Baghdad - Trade in the Arabian Sea - The ports - The expansion of trade- Internal politics, 775-892 - Samarra - Five conclusions 7. The End of an Era Weakening of the oriental link - After 830 8. Four Hypotheses Index Addenda
Richard Hodges, until recently Director of the British School at Rome, is now Director of the World Institute of Archaeology and Professor in the School of World Arts and Museology at the University of East Anglia.
"In this book, Richard Hodges and David Whitehouse review the Pirenne thesis and test hypotheses advanced by some of Pirenne's critics in the light of archaeological information from the Mediterranean, northern Europe, and western Asia... The book succeeds extraordinarily well not only in integrating archaeology with traditionally researched history but also in interweaving European and Islamic history in the early medieval period."-American Historical Review "Besides providing a splendid illustration of the potential for archaeological contributions to historical studies, this book offers a new model for early medieval Europe... The book is profusely illustrated with well-selected photographs of representative objects and archaeological sites, site plans, and maps."-Archaeology "A major contribution to the reinvestigation of the Pirenne thesis."-Middle East Journal
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