Myths of the Nations: The Origins of Medieval Europe

This book reveals the true story of the evolution of European peoples from Late Antiquity to the early Middle Ages, tracing more than two thousand years of history from ancient Greece to twentieth-century South Africa. Romantic political philosophy, “scientific” history, Indo-European philology, and ethnic archaeology may appear to be neutral, objective academic tools, but together they created nationalist historiography that abused and distorted the past, providing a historical basis for the rise of ethnic nationalism. In addition to examining the evolution of European peoples in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, the book traces how nationalist historiography took shape between 1800 and 1900 and details its catastrophic consequences. With broad scholarly insight and deft, penetrating arguments, the author presents the complexity and fluidity of history to a general audience.