Barbarians and Romans (1983) examines the rise of the barbarian tribes and the consequent decline of the Roman Empire. The author contends that the two sides were not bent on destroying each other, and that after years of accommodation and alienation a new world would emerge that had its foundations not only in Rome but also in Germanic culture. The book ranges across the Roman world, and from the rulers to the ruled, combining the study of monuments and artefacts with the literary evidence of the period.