The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture

Dust jacket notes: "Few persons know more about the Huns than their reputation as savage horsemen who flourished at the beginning of the Middle Ages and the name of one of their leaders, Attila. They appeared in Europe from 'somewhere in the East,' terrorized the later Roman Empire and the Germanic tribes, caused the greatest upheaval that the Mediterranean world had ever seen - the Great Migrations - and vanished. Illiterate, they left no written records; such literary evidence of them as exists is secondary, scattered in the writings of contemporary and later reporters, fragmentary, biased, and unreliable. Their sole tangible relics are huge cauldrons and graves, some of which contain armor, equestrian gear, and ornaments. Who were the Huns? How did they live? Professor Maenchen-Helfen dedicated much of his life seeking answers to these questions. With pertinacity, passion, skepticism. and unsurpassed scholarship he pieced together evidence from remote sources in Asia, Russia, and Europe; categorized and interpreted it; and lived the absorbing detective story presented in this volume….In his quest for information about them, Professor Maenchen-Helfen sifted written sources in the original classical, Slavic, and Asian languages. He also devoted years of travel to visiting archeological digs from Hungary to Afghanistan, from Nepal to Mongolia, and from the Caucasus to the Great Wall. Intrigued by each report of the discovery of a new grave somewhere, the author could not bring himself to complete the work. At his death in 1969 his study was filled from floor to ceiling with binders, folders, and photographic negatives….The editor had to choose from among various drafts, to decipher and organize, and to enlist the assistance of the author's scholar-friends….The book is richly illustrated with rare photographs collected by the author, and includes a specially prepared map of the Roman Empire at the time of the Huns…."