The Avars

Walter Pohl has succeeded in stripping much of this veil of mystery from the Avars.... a heterogeneous group from central Asia who dominated the Byzantine Danube frontier in a complicated relationship that saw raids, wars, trade, and the payment of large annual sums of tribute. In tracing the history of the Avars and the peoples they dominated or fought and traded with, this is an illuminating history of southeast Europe in the early Middle Ages.

~Speculum

This volume contains a wealth of information and informed discussion; it will repay careful study by anyone involved in the late Roman and early medieval period, and will remain the standard guide into the foreseeable future.

~English Historical Review

Walter Pohl picks his way judiciously though the minefield of primary sources—fragmentary and contradictory—and secondary interpretations of varied value. His solid medievalist training coupled with common sense often balk at the most fanciful interpretations. The documentation assembled by Pohl is impressive; the use he made of it commands respect. Future research on all questions concerning the Avars, henceforth cannot bypass this very important book.

~Journal of Asian History

Though the book was first published in German in 1988, this English version includes many revisions and updates and will be the definitive English-language study of the Avar empire for years to come. It will be invaluable for those interested in medieval history or in the impact of nomadic steppe empires on sedentary civilizations.

~Choice

The book clearly stands as a monumental starting point of any future research on the Avars. Pohl and Cornell University Press deserve praise for publishing this important work of scholarship in English.

~Studies in Late Antiquity

One wonders how it could have taken thirty years for the appearance of this, the first English edition of Walter Pohl's seminal work. But now that it is finally accessible to a much wider readership, it must be made clear that The Avars is more than just a translation.

~Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association