The History of the Medieval World by Susan Wise Bauer
667 pages
Published 2010
Read from June 10 to June 24
Rating: ★★★★ out of 5
My
first impression of this book was not promising: right there on the
second page of an enormous scholarly tome was an egregious editorial
error. (The placement of a footnote implies Maximinus Daia ruled
Licinius' territories instead of the Eastern Empire. I mean, come on.)
It quickly became obvious that this was a "kings and wars" history,
ignoring social history, technology, and most everything else not
connected to rulers and their battles with other rulers -- a style of
history that is frustratingly pat and superficial. But gradually, the
sheer scope and ambition began to win me over. Although this book is
overwhelmingly focused on Western Europe, where historical records of
kings and wars are superabundant for this time period, Bauer follows the
"kings and wars" thread whenever possible all over Eurasia, including
places whose history is new to me, including Korea. I also came to
appreciate the occasional character sketches she gave whenever she felt
like giving more detail to a particular king or prince or general. The
little details sprinkled through the vast breadth of the subject were a
winning combination.
I generally like to own worthwhile history
books, so despite our current penury, I went ahead and brought the
preceding volume in Bauer's series, The History of the Ancient World. One day I want to get my hands on the entire series.
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