Paul Collins and "Birth Of The West" covers the challenges Europe faced with forced migrations of Vikings,Saracens, and Magyars

     Clark Kramer

Paul Collins looks at the development of Europe and how like today Europe is constantly on the defensive with invading hoards willing to break rues and plunder their way into the continent. Paul Collins is the author of "Birth Of The West" a excellent examination of the formation of Europe from the fall of the Roman  empire into a feudal society because of the vast invaders a outsiders living through raiding and pillaging and Mr  Collins does a great job recalling in his book the eventual development of kingdoms that would become nation states in Europe.

 Mr Collins examines the state of the tenth century and how this dark age of invasions and plunders by Muslims,Vikings, and Nomadic Asiatics lead to a rebirth and European identity and the birth of Western civilization and culture. Collins praises the Saxony leadership and the three Otto for bring order to chaos and the development of states like Hungary and Poland in bringing out more order and new visions of governing that diverted from the raiders and the feudal system of Nobleman rule in France as Collins exclaimed were basically just warlord thugs of the day.

Collins examines the Saxons who two hundred years earlier were being massacred and fighting Christianity as Collins covers the beheading of 4500 prisoners by Charlemagne in 782 to their

eventually  battle defending Europe from Magyar Central Asian nomadic wanderers in 955 under the leader of Otto 1. Eventually like the Vikings the Magyars would integrate in Europe and become Christians and become Hungarians but as far as the Saracen pirates abolishment  along with the rest of the Muslim scum from Spain and Sicily would be their outcome.

This is a good book to look and study how Europe progressed and faced challenges form invaders much in the same way it is experiencing today from various sources intent on changing and overhauling these nation states into one big open wealth fund venture.