Gregory Of Tours

About 15 years ago, I picked up a copy of The History Of The Franks by Gregory of Tours. Gregory was born in 539 ad in what now is Clermont-Ferrand in the Massif Central, in the center of France.
He lived through the reign of the Merovingian king, Chilperic and became the bishop of Tours.
He wrote many books, some of which survive today.
Most were lives of Saints, the histories of those who lived in his time or before him.
Near the end of his life(he died in 594), he decided to write a history of the world, his world as he knew it.
At the time, my interest was purely scholarly. I was fascinated with the early history of Europe and the emergence of French civilization and I wanted to know about the Gauls, the Franks and the reign of the first kings, The Frankish Merovingians.
This book gave me a direct link into the mind of a man who lived 1,500 years ago and the more I read, the more I began to really like this guy. The dry history came to life and when he got to his era, he began to concentrate on personalities with long gossipy digressions. I was hooked.
It seems that every few years, I get the desire to reread this book. I have just began it anew.
It starts with Gregory's fervent recital of the history of creation. His math is the same as the creationists today. He had the strict interpretation of the bible for his calculations and of course, knew nothing of the discoveries of geology and astronomy and physics that shape our world view today. He begins the book with the biblical account of creation, then a synapsis of biblical history, the old and new testament and then segues into the Gallo Roman synthesis which ruled Gaul for 600 years, after the center of the Roman empire had moved to Byzantium. You learn about his family and of course his hero, St. Martin of Tours.
He recounts the invasion of the Franks and the first kings. His history really starts with Clovis, the legendary king who converted to christianity.
How factual is this book? Much of it has been verified and much has been put in question as Gregory repeats stories that have become distorted as they travel. He lives in a time of wonders and signs. Falling stars are portents. The Aurora is harbinger of doom. There are reports of blood falling from the sky and a rain of frogs and fishes far any sea. This is a history of one man trying to explain his world through the system of belief and logic that are his tools of perception.
I could not recommend this book more. It is a way to understand the universality of emotion. A look into the mind of one who is far removed, but as you get to know him, not so very far removed at all.
I have the Penguin Classics paperback based on a translation from latin made in 1836.