THE BATTLE THAT STOPPED ROME by Peter S. Wells.
Mr. Wells is “professor of anthropology at the University of Minnesota and the author of the award-winning THE BARBARIANS SPEAK.”

According to accounts by two great chroniclers of Rome, Tacitus and Cassius Dio, in A.D. 9 a chieftain named Arminius led a massive army of Germanic warriors - ‘barbarians’ - in the annihilation of some twenty thousand Roman soldiers.
The battle truly changed the course of European and world history.

The readability of this book is superb. The index is very helpful. Indeed, all the access points are helpful and easy to follow.
I liked the mention of Museums, Roman Remains and Archaeological Parks in Appendix 3. Most have web sites where one can access their collections. I was especially interested in the Westfalisches Romermuseum Haltern in Haltern, Germany.
Information in the book included the history of The Battle and its aftermath; The Romans and their history; Augustus; Arminius; Military organization and history of the Romans and the Germanic tribes; Germanic tribes and settlements. (For me, history comes alive when written in such a superb narrative style.)
THE BATTLE THAT STOPPED ROME consists of a Preface; 12 chapters; a list of illustrations; a list of maps; important dates; appendices - 1,2 and 3; sources and suggestions for further reading; acknowledgements; illustration credits and an index.
Professor Wells muses on a very important point in the last chapter, ‘The Meaning of the Battle’.
We must be very careful in our assessments of the past - There is a text-based understanding of the past and an archaeological-based understanding of the past. I like the quote given by novelist Tim O’Brien - “In any war story, but especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen.”
I truly enjoyed reading this book and learning about this very important battle; Roman History of the period; the Germanic tribes - with a lot of geography thrown in!
I would highly recommend this book. ( )

I loved this book, it had just the right balance of academic and narrative for me. I was intrigued by the notion of what could have been if the Romans had crossed the Elbe. If they had, we may very well have had a completely different European history. It is a fascinating notion.I fully recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Roman and European history. ( )

Roman legions slaughtered in Germany. ( )

The Battle of Teutoberg Forest stopped Rome's continued conweust cold at the Rhine River in Germany and acted to slow advances elsewhere. The aged Emperor Augustus was stricken by the loss of three legions, 10% of Rome's military power, in an ambush Romans could not counter. Romans were very organized, very tough, but were at a loss when confronted by sudden ambush in a situation where they could not organize according to the battle tactics they knew. Author Peter S. Wells taps the archaeological evidence since the actual battle site was found in recent decades, to analyze the factors that led to the battle and its shattering outcome which halted Rome and made a hero of Arminius, in later centuries known as Hermann the German. Excellent account looks at both sides, their weapons, their attitudes, the battle, and its impact in this detailed but very readable account. Highly recommended. ( )

If you want a good introduction to this book and the battle of Teutoburg Forest, read Birdbrain's review of this book (found below mine). If not, you're stuck with my relatively feeble effort instead.

Like most people, I had never heard of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest until I picked up this book at a friend's place and started reading. It is great at answering the sort of questions I would have had I paid more attention to history. Questions like "Why does the Latin languages border end at the Rhone?" and "who is this dude Hermann the Germans bang on about?"

The Battle of Teutoburg Forest was one of the biggest one-sided defeats in history and Wells' description of the lead up and battle maintains the interest, even though the sheer size of the massacre inflicted on the Romans continues to stupefy you.

Well worth a read, but one should be aware that when I showed a friend I was reading this, she looked at me disdainfully and said it would put me to sleep. ( )