Christopher Beckwith has written a new book called EMPIRES OF THE SILK ROAD, the first complete history of Central Eurasia, and discusses the bad rap the Barbarians have historically received in an article recently posted on the History News Network. You can read the whole article here, but I include an intriguing portion of his op-ed:

“The popular Western idea of Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, and other famous Central Eurasians should be obvious to anyone familiar with the portrayal of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s characters in the popular movies Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonja—they’re Barbarians!

But this is more than just an idea in the popular imagination. Despite many scholars’ addition of scare quotes to the word (“barbarian”) in a nod to political correctness, or their omission of the word entirely from their writings, the traditional view of Central Eurasians it embodies has remained largely unchallenged even among specialists.”