This history of the earliest kings of France, the warrior-chieftains of Frankish Gaul, effectively bridges the gap between the collapse of the Roman Empire and the rise of the Empire of Charlemagne. Covering the fifth through the eighth centuries, The Birth of France has the improbable romance of a grand opera: colorful figure-such as the sadistic and sexually magnetic Queen of Fredegund; the Emperor Lothair, who kept six women as lovers under separate roofs; and his father Clovis, a fervent convert to Christianity -abound in Scherman's superbly- wrought portrait. Alongside the tale of these fierce kings and queens is the companion story of Christianity. After Clovis's conversion, the bishops and abbots of the Catholic Church -the only educated class in Frankish Gaul- became the allies, educators, and counselors of the nobility, providing a civilizing force in a barbarian and chaotic world.