Publisher Description
From the schism between Rome and Constantinople to the rise of the T’ang Dynasty, from the birth of Muhammad to the crowning of Charlemagne, this erudite book tells the fascinating, often violent story of kings, generals, and the peoples they ruled.
In her earlier work, The History of the Ancient World, Susan Wise Bauer wrote of the rise of kingship based on might. But in the years between the fourth and the twelfth centuries, rulers had to find new justification for their power, and they turned to divine truth or grace to justify political and military action. Right thus replaces might as the engine of empire.
Not just Christianity and Islam but the religions of the Persians and the Germans, and even Buddhism, are pressed into the service of the state. This phenomenon—stretching from the Americas all the way to Japan—changes religion, but it also changes the state.
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“This is a very approachable and readable history of the Medieval world. I enjoyed the author’s method greatly. Each chapter is a mini-essay that can stand alone, including at least one map and a timeline at the end to put the chapter in historical perspective. While I was pretty familiar with much of the European history, I learned a good bit from each chapter – the author fleshes out the notable people of the era. This is a history of the entire world, and I thought the chapters on areas outside of Europe really shined. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Medieval history, or history in general. I really wish my text books would have been this entertaining!”
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Clay (5 out of 5 stars)
