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

"The History of the Medieval World" professes to achieve a serious objective indeed. It is a history of the populated world from the early 4th C. AD to the beginning of the 12th C. Given that goal, Bauer's text has to navigate between the Scylla of bloodless generalizations that present merely a lifeless frame and the Charybdis of rich detail that allows no coherent picture of the epoch to develop. I'm happy to say that neither whirlpool claims her narrative.Contributing to her success in achieving that balance are 100 maps and 85 "Timelines" (one per chapter). Both devices contribute substantially to the book's interest. Although it is engagingly written, it is not, as reviewers often delight in asserting, an "easy read." I'm not a partisan of that perspective on non-fiction books. "Medieval World" is not easy to read; it is, on the other hand, a challenging read. That's why I like it. (Of course, the fact that it contains more than 700 pages may automatically take it out of contention for the category, "easy to read.")I'm also grateful to Bauer for her willingness to acknowledge religion to be a powerful influence on cultures (as, manifestly, it is) without feeling the need to demean faith as a belief system unable to rise above superstition. To have, for example, Christianity taken seriously simply because it merits consideration is highly unusual in a work of this level of scholarship.One of my criteria for judging books is the answer to the question, Would I like to know the author personally? For this work, my answer is strongly affirmative.

This book is fantastic, a sweeping history of a little understood time starting from the decline of the Western Roman empire. The author weaves in politics, personalities, philosophies , social movements and religions across a broad swath of geography- Ireland , Italy, Persia, India etc. She has a particular talent for honing in on the relevant and not just mundane details. St Patrick, Buddhism, even violent chariot racing in Constantinople. If you love history, pick it up. If you love fascinating stories that seem almost surreal, give it a go. Also of note Bauer tells the history and offers conflicting points of view. She doesn't pretend she has all the answers as any good historian should.

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.

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.

Enjoyed it! Fast shipper

This book I already own and read on Kindle, I received it yesterday. I discovered it while looking for a book on classical education, the author has a book about it . The book is very well organized, that is one of its best features, the way it’s written is very clear and engaging.I wouldn’t have found or got the book but for Amazon, I have read so many books that weren’t available in my country. It has made a change.So this is a thank you to Amazon and Jeff Bezos for making all of this possible, and to wish him and his team a safe journey and return.

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?

Good book

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.