The Imperial City of Cologne: From Roman Colony to Medieval Metropolis (19 B.C.-1125 A.D.) is an urban history of Cologne from its imperial Roman origins as a northeastern frontier military outpost to a medieval metropolis on the German Empire's northwestern border. This first history of Cologne, available in English, challenges received notions of late Roman ethnic identities, a Dark Age collapse of urban life, devastating Viking and Magyar incursions, and the origins of medieval urban government.

"Huffman's book is well researched and written in an appealing manner and - especially for an English-speaking audience - offers a good introduction to Cologne's city history."
- Markus Jansen, Rheinische Geschichte, January 2020. Originally published in German.

"Huffman has written a thorough, judicious, and excellent account of Cologne’s first millennium. Readers interested in the urban history of the post-Roman West will find this book particularly valuable, but it also has much to offer to those interested in early medieval Germany, as Huffman spends a great deal of time describing how Cologne fit into the context of Ottonian and Salian politics."
- Thomas Farmer, Mediaevistik 32, 2019

Joseph P. Huffman is Distinguished Professor of European History at Messiah College. He has published books, articles, and reviews in both English and German in Europe as well as in North America.