The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade

I am a 16 year old homeschooler and I finished this book in about a year, reading it on and off. I found the book very well researched and expertly written, but there were some details (particularly about the church schism in 1054) I was displeased with. I found the Eastern church (of which I am a member) depicted in a very warped fashion, both in the case of the schism and in general. There are two sides to every argument, and I feel that both sides of this issue were not properly addressed. For such a well-researched work I was very disappointed in this fact. I also was very disturbed by various unnecessary details about rulers and their personal lives. We know that several emperors had illegitimate children, but are details about with whom this happened and what came of it necessary? I consider this to be a huge concern and something that the book could do very well without. After all, Susan Wise Bauer writes for young people, does she not? In that case I believe that the audience (both their age and exposure limit) should be taken into consideration. Overall, a very in-depth look at the history of the whole world, although it could use a bit of editing in certain areas.

I spent a few years reading American History and then decided to try European, starting with the Middle Ages. I am no historian and I have minimal prior knowledge, so I was looking for a good introduction to the Middle Ages. I tried Manchester's  A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age  and quickly set it aside. It contained errors even an amateur like me could spot. I then tried Wickham's  The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 (The Penguin History of Europe)  and less quickly set it aside. Wickham is a well researched book but definitely not for beginners, despite its marketing. Then I found this book by Bauer, which was perfect for my needs.Let me start by saying something critical that actually is a positive. This is the reason I give the book just four stars. It is also the reason I like the book so much and highly recommend it:This is old fashioned history, the way our grand parents learned history. The focus is on kings, queens, emperors and the generals who served them. I am half way through the book and long ago lost track of all the wars, assassinations and uprisings. Discussions of how the common people lived? There is none of that. There is no mention of developments in science, commerce, the arts, philosophy, etc. Slavery? Taxation? The treatment of women? You will have to look elsewhere.I say this is a strength because the Middle Ages spans an enormous period of time. I could read ten books on the period and still feel I was only scraping the surface. But you have to start somewhere just to get "oriented" to the period, and learning about rulers, wars and shifting borders is an excellent orientation. Who were the Franks? Who was Justinian? Who were the Vandals? Who were the Persians? Who was Leo the Great? These are the sort of things you need to know before you can delve more deeply into other aspects of the history, and these are the sort of things Bauer covers.OK, let me tell you what is awesome about this book.1. It is highly readable. The book is broken down into short chapters that are like "episodes." Each episode is almost like a short story, but they fit together into a complete history. The writing is engaging, with enough focus on rulers' foibles, adventures and intrigues to fill a bookshelf of novels.2. Maps!!! There is a map accompanying almost every chapter. I haven't been paying close attention, but I don't recall a single chapter without one. These aren't generic maps the publisher dropped in, with place names unrelated to what is discussed in the accompanying chapters. No. Each map is drawn specifically to clarify the text. My only problem with the maps is that, in the Kindle edition, they are very low resolution. If you can't read a place name in one of the maps, zooming in probably won't help. The zoomed name will be pixelated.3. World view: Bauer does not limit herself to Europe. She also covers North Africa, the Arab world, Persia, India, Tibet, China, the Eurasian Plains, Korea, Japan and even, briefly, the Americas. Most people will read this book because they are interested in Europe, but you would miss much focusing exclusively there. Reading Bauer, you see Islam and the Tang Dynasty rising simultaneously as the Byzantine Empire falters. What happens in one part of the world does impact others. For example, the rise of Islam places pressure on Byzantine, which gives the Lombards the chance they need to evict most of the remaining Byzantine troops from Italy — and hopes of restoring the Western Roman Empire quietly fade.Let me close by qualifying one thing I have said. While topics such as science, commerce or the lives of common people receive little mention, religion is covered extensively and well. You can't understand the Middle Ages if you don't understand the role of religion. Bauer covers Christianity, the religions that preceded it, heresies, ecumenical councils, the rise of Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism and more, all with insights into how rulers exploited religion to unify or control subjects. I have learned much. For example, I never knew Islam was built on a pre-existing Arab religion that already embraced a deity called Allah and a holy city Mecca.Overall, this is a highly readable introduction to the Middle Ages. It is not history at its best, but that flaw is its strength.

I just finished Reading A. Goldsworthy books about Cesar, Augustus and the fall of the Roman Empire and was looking for a book about middle ages. THis book is just a list of names and avents - gives no insight about couses of certain events or changes in the society. Very low quality history book

Bauer has an excellent handle on condensing the entire history of the world into a readable volume. By comparison to other history textbooks, this one's practically a light read -- and indeed I have been repurchasing and rereading these for pleasure (I sold them after my college days). Medieval World continues the foundation and format started in the Ancient World volume: concise chapters that jump around between the major civilizations of the day: Persia, Byzantium, Francia/Germany, Britain, and China/Korea/Japan. It can take a while to get used to the format (Bauer goes mainly chronologically, jumping around between civilizations) and to keep all the names straight, but on the whole I highly recommend this approach to an overview of history.

There's nothing boring about this history - it was like the Smithsonian meets the National Inquirer. The stories will cover piquant details not found in common histories.VERY extensive, it covers almost 1000 years of medieval WORLD history (I think only Russia was sort of left out except with some mentions of the Russ which may or may not have been Russians), it is not for the faint of heart but will be thoroughly rewarding for the geeks like me that are able to stick with it. Take notes, the author flows from one part of the world to another and goes back or forth in time in order to cover the complex historical occurrences and you may not notice the reappearance of characters. If you do keep track of the names and places, the stories build up to knee slapping crescendos. A warning - you will lose a lot of your innocence about humanity by the end and not view the world in the same manner as before.In short, too much fun for them who can take it.

What this book lacks in depth it makes up for in breadth. When I started this book, I assumed it would be a recounting of the Medieval world on Western Europe. However, I was pleasantly surprised when it not only covered the fall of Rome but then jumped east to Constantinople, then kept going, to India, China, Korea, and Japan. It also made brief stops in the Americas, though due to the lack of good records, these were very brief.Largely this is a recounting of the various leaders in these regions, and how one tribe would gain a foothold over its neighbors for a few decades, and then largely atrophy before a full collapse, where one of its neighbors takes its turn.Entertaining book. It was sometimes hard to keep up with all the names, but otherwise enjoyable.

firstly i bought this on Audible and listened to it in the car whilst driving to work.highly entertaining, like a 'real' version of game of thrones. battles, betrayals, inter marriages, relationships, the evil catholic church launching crusade after crusade for purely personal gain, heresies being burnt at the stake - great fun. highly recommended for people like myself, who are not really 'historians' but want something entertaining which will give them an decent overview of the main events and stories from the medieval age.this review also applies to the same book of the renaissance - i also bought the audible version, loved it, then bought the hardback version and also love it.the books themselves - maybe a bit expensive at 20 plus pounds - are however lovely quality, nice pages, decent maps and diagrams, and will be with me for many years and in a few years the kids i am sure will be using them for school history stuff. So overall 5 stars and thanks to Susan Wise Bauer for writing such great books.Only gripe i have is - Dear Miss Bauer - why no 4th book on early modern history? what are we to do from the 15th century to 20th?

First off, this book is very large, as is the topic it covers. It is essentially an overview of the medieval period, from the last days of the Romans, for the main continents across the world - and it is truly fascinating and engrossing.Amazingly, the author achieves their goal very well indeed. Each chapter deals with a different culture, moving forward slowly in time to indicate clearly the evolution of the period from each perspective. However, this is never overwhelming. The 'story' of each land/culture flows well (and often humorously), and never becomes dry or just a barrage of names or titles. Societies and influences are clear, and it's easy to get an idea of what is happening, where and why.As an overview of a very long period over a very wide area, it is excellent and (miraculously!) never unwieldy. There's enough detail for readers who find appeal in a particular time or location to then look for further, more detailed accounts elsewhere.An excellent text, recommended.

Reading on from History of the Ancient World, this is a great continuation.

This was a present for a teen studying the subject at school. He said it was great and had a lot of useful information.

one of the best books to study medieval world. couldn't put it down. Thanks amazon