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sbenzell's review against another edition
1.0
This book isn’t completely valueless - there are lots of interesting anecdotes and details scattered around - but the organization and framework is completely lacking. I wouldn’t recommend this to a newbie - there’s so much context needed to understand why these anecdotes are important - and can’t recommend it to an expert - you’d be better off collecting scattered interesting details from something like r/mideavalhistory than here. A book for no one unfortunately though I am sympathetic to the author, who is clearly trying really hard with a possibly Syssephean task.
maggiewrites's review against another edition
4.0
Slow, from a very Christian European perspective, but informative!
rixx's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.0
A disappointing VSI book, this time around: light on substance, but heavy on the condescension. I'll list a couple of things that annoyed me (lest I start thinking I liked the book) and then some things I learnt:
Annoyances
Annoyances
- “Even the word Europe is far from fixed. I shall use it to describe the westernmost part of a vast continental mass […].” – or write about *Europe*? Or call it *Western Europe*? A vast continental mass my arse.
- Uses so many words to say so little. I had hoped that a VSI book would be concise, and this is anything but. “In the course of the 14th century the religion born in Judaea, the offshoot of Judaism which for several centuries did not possess a name, became a growing and ultimately defining force—Christianity” – come on, really?
- Uses “barbarians” without qualification or irony (though at least not a lot).
Notes
- Urban centres and commerce are later than I thought: England and France in the 12th century, Bohemia in the 13th and in the Baltics in the 14th century.
- Rennaissance people felt too high and mighty and so coined the term "Middle Ages" (gtfo Petrarch), and then the 19th century romantics rebelled against the 18th century enlightenment by celebrating the period (though also to go on with their whole nation state thing).
- In the Domesday book (1086), about 10% of the recorded population are slaves, and slaves and serfs are a established feature throughout the period, obligated to work on command and highly restricted in their ability to travel.
- Marriage tracks how far Christianity managed to take over culture, and how long it took to go from the Roman contract or the Germanic family enterprise to the religious/moral construct.
- Courts accepting the testimony of women give us unusual and early information on everyday worries, especially as they relate to relationships. Also, guild widows were allowed to carry on with their husband's work.
- Monasteries took their wealth not only from being given estates, but also from holding on to them over the centuries without having to split them up for multiple sons over and over again. (Makes total sense, but I never thought about it that way.)
katieg's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
As the title advertises, this is a short and helpful introduction to the middle ages. The introduction outlines why its still an important subject to study as well as doing a very brief overview of the historiography of the period, and how its periodization (and many misattributes) have arisen. The chapters give first a broad overview of political change and overall development over the period and subsequent chapters focus on key social issues and way of life. Attention is paid to how changes were gradual depending on region. The writing is clear, and examples come from across Europe, with due mention of notable figures. The accompanying figures are also nice.
ljmody's review against another edition
2.0
Overall, it was okay. As a beginner to reading texts on the Middle Ages, I found it extremely hard to follow as the author frequently cited historical figures or places which I have no knowledge of. I found this particularly annoying when it was brought up in an anecdotal context as I was left wondering why I cared about the interesting fact that wasn't particularly interesting or relevant to me. There was some redeeming discussions that were particularly interesting but overall, this didn't balance out the discussions that were a grind to read. I'm going to give "A Very Short Introduction" series another chance but I would only recommend this one to someone with a background in Middle Ages literature/study.
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