BARBARIANS!

Sure, Vikings get all the good press—but as Kroll points out, they weren’t the only warlike people to raid, invade and topple established empires between 100 CE and the death of Tamerlane in 1405. After noting at the outset that the prejudicial connotation of the term “barbarian” was often but not always just, he goes on to profile the relatively brief but bloody careers of the Goths, Attila’s Huns, the Vikings and the Mongol Hordes of Genghis Khan and his descendants. Focusing not so much on their gorier practices as on their conquests and most prominent leaders, he chronicles the rise and fall of each, with general comments on origins, life ways and religions. Byrd remarks on the paucity of accurate source material but fills his large illustrations with colorful details, energetic figures and artfully composed reconstructions of historical and mythological scenes, as well as visual references to enduring cultural contributions. Rousing reading for all armchair sword-wielders and plunder-seekers. (Nonfiction. 10-12)