The first major historians of medieval Europe composed histories of the Goths, Franks, Anglo-Saxons, and Lombards. They are the main witnesses to the long epoch--sometimes called "the Dark Ages"--that their writings span, and they have nourished patriotic pride in the modern nations whose origins they are thought to narrate: Jordanes in Germany and Italy, Gregory of Tours in France, Bede in Britain, and Paul the Deacon in Italy. In a book that brings out the conscious creativity of these four writers, Walter Goffart focuses on their goals, scrutinizing what each of them was doing and for whom.

The historians are examined one by one, as called for by the circumstances of their lives, the individuality of their works, and the critical writings each has occasioned. Their opinions and literary talents are taken as seriously as the information they convey. Professor Goffart's findings about their writing and what moved them to produce it clarify a delicate chapter in the history of historical thought and provide new insights into social, religious, and literary life at the dawn of the Middle Ages.