![]() This yields a sense of intellectual adventure that remains compelling throughout, as Chris Wickham engages his readers in his arguments, choices and interpretations, and keeps them on their toes."-Mayke de Jong, Utrecht University " Medieval Europe is a model of clarity and accessibility, the superlative answer to a challenge taken up by an eminent and wide-ranging historian: to interpret the history of a millennium in 250 pages. This is the middle ages that the twenty-first century needs to know about – not the gaudy antithesis of 'modernity' but the centuries of human toil, ingenuity and compromise in which real people made choices, albeit not in circumstances of their own choosing."-John Arnold, Professor of Medieval History, University of Cambridge Above all else, Wickham shows us the economic and structural bones beneath the skin. Emperors, popes, theologians, knights and mystics are found herein, but so too are cities, peasants, merchants, and the material experiences of the many and not just the few. "Writing with great wit, style and clarity, Chris Wickham presents to us a powerful account of the middle ages as a period of considerable dynamism and massive change. “ broad purview, memorable terseness, and focus on what is important make this book well worth reading.”-Lawrence G. thought-provoking.”-James Davis, Renaissance Quarterly ![]() “ Medieval Europe is a testament to Chris Wickham’s authoritative command of the material and to his clarity of thought. His assessment of the respective roles played by various elements in this tapestry is thought provoking."-Robert Sutherland-Harris, Renaissance and Reformation "Historians of the medieval period and beyond, however, should benefit from Wickham’s particular vision of the Middle Ages as a series of major turning points knit together by structural forces. Lyon, Journal of Interdisciplinary History “Wickham’s interpretation of the European Middle Ages is one of vibrancy and dynamism, a welcome reminder of why many people find this period fascinating.”-Jonathan R. Far-ranging, fluent, and thoughtful-of considerable interest to students of history writ large, and not just of Europe."- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ![]() "A thorough survey of the European continent in the time between antiquity and modernity. "A dazzling race through a complex millennium."- Publishers Weekly Wickham offers both a new conception of Europe’s medieval period and a provocative revision of exactly how and why the Middle Ages matter. ![]() He provides illuminating vignettes that underscore how shifting social, economic, and political circumstances affected individual lives and international events. Tracking the entire sweep of the Middle Ages across Europe, Wickham focuses on important changes century by century, including such pivotal crises and moments as the fall of the western Roman Empire, Charlemagne’s reforms, the feudal revolution, the challenge of heresy, the destruction of the Byzantine Empire, the rebuilding of late medieval states, and the appalling devastation of the Black Death. Yet distinguished historian Chris Wickham has taken up the challenge in this landmark book, and he succeeds in producing the most riveting account of medieval Europe in a generation. A spirited and thought-provoking history of the vast changes that transformed Europe during the 1,000-year span of the Middle Ages The millennium between the breakup of the western Roman Empire and the Reformation was a long and hugely transformative period-one not easily chronicled within the scope of a few hundred pages.
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