Though this work was originally published in 1965, the fact that new editions of the English translation are still being published shows that its usefulness is still recognized. The period of the “barbarian” invasions of the western Roman Empire can be confusing. There were many different cultures, of separate origins and speaking a variety of languages, their peregrinations often overlapping. Many of them joined together in alliances, broke apart again, and fought each other as well as the Romans and the Romanized barbarians who had arrived earlier. But most Americans of European origin are more likely to carry the DNA of the Visigoths, Vandals, Lombards, or Franks, than we are of the Romans.

Musset divides his work into three parts, the first of which I would especially recommend to beginners in this subject. It’s called “The Facts” and it runs about 150 well-written, easily comprehended pages. Rather than considering each of the migrating peoples individually, because they so often interact with each other, he deals with the subject chronologically, examining each of the five major waves of invaders by land over four centuries, plus the maritime migrations of the Germanic Saxons, Angles, and Jutes to Britain.

The second section is “Unsolved Problems and Subjects for Further Research,” which is still largely valid even after almost forty-five years. While new schools of historical thought and method have taken power, there are still many unanswered questions. In fact, this section could be very useful in getting students to think for themselves.

The third section, “Sources and Studies,” is probably the least useful at this late date, being an unannotated bibliography of more than five hundred primary and secondary sources, both books and journal articles -- most of them, not surprisingly, in languages other than English. Still, the primary sources themselves haven’t changed (though interpretations of them have), and certain classic secondary works, like J. B. Bury, are certainly still worth reading.

Gran aporte a la historiografía. Si bien Musset fue especialista en la Normandía temprana, acá el abordaje es orientado hacia una visión de conjunto, más que bienvenida -y necesaria- sobre el periodo de las segundas invasiones. Lectura que, a pesar de sus cuarenta años, es más que recomendable para adentrarse en la historia de magiares -y eslavos-, escandinavos y sarracenos.

Впечатляет академическая порядочность автора, черта, бывшая характерной для ученых прошлого века и практически утерянная сейчас: там, где он уверен в выводах и фактах - он пишет с уверенностью, там, где он имеет сомнения - он открыто заявляет о них, там, где у него нет достаточной информации для ответов - он ограничивается лишь вопросами и изложениями версий своих предшественников, если таковые были.
Материал в книге излагается сначала в хронологическом порядке, затем следуют региональные обзоры, за ними - тематические. Вторая же часть книги посвящена полностью "нерешенным вопросам и направлениям исследования".
Интересна попытки автора провести границу между Античностью и Средними веками. Варварские королевства Запада он делит на два типа: первые (государства бургундов, вандалов и готов) наследуют античным образцам, сохраняют многие античные социальные структуры и вписываются в - пускай и ослабленные - античные структуры экономического обмена; вторые (государства франков, англосаксов и лангобардов) создают свои, уже не античные социальные структуры и оказываются вне экономических структур римской эпохи.

Musset gives a good summary of the Völkerwanderung of the western provinces, as well as an articulation of the areas of research which are still lacking (as of 1965). I'd recommend it to the casual enthusiast of Late Antiquity or the early Middle Ages... if I ever meet another one.

This book was first published in 1965 in France. It doesn't at all read as dated. I'd love to know what specialists in the field think. Perhaps it's been improved on? But Musset does not pretend to know what he couldn't know. He even has a section at the back of the book covering what the puzzles still were and how they might be investigated.
The book can still be confusing but not because of authorial flaws. The subject can be confusing in the best of hands. Musset does an excellent job of trying to explain the different groups of Germanic invaders. I think it is a good starter book on the subject though it is not over-simplified.