J. B. Bury 
Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians [EPUB ebook] 

The classic reference on the breaking up of the Roman Empire by the Germanic peoples—from “a great historian . . . as readable and provocative as ever” (Robert Conquest).   Written by the classical scholar and historian in 1928, The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians gives readers a broad overview of the migratory movements of the northern barbarians that brought about the end of the Roman Empire. While West Germans turned to agriculture to survive, their geographical expansion was arrested by the power of Rome, the East Germans beyond the Elbe were free to continue their wanderings. Driven by the needs of a growing population, they continued to encroach upon their neighbors, beginning a process that would shape Europe into its present form.   The Goths, the Vandals, the Gepids, the Burgundians, the Lombards, and others would make their mark on history, ushering in a new era from the ancient to the medieval.