Description
Shed some light on one of history's darkest periods. The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to the Middle Ages gives readers the beginning, middle, and end of the era, starting with the fall of the Roman Empire in the year 550 and ending with the Renaissance in 1500- and covers some uncomfortable similarities between the so-called "Dark Ages" and today's "modern world." *A fascinating, fact-filled book that delivers more than a thousand years of history in easy-to-understand chapters *Many AP European History students are urged to read an overview of medieval Europe to aid in their understanding of modern Europe, and a number of high schools have adopted elective courses in medieval history *Complete with a timeline, a who's who, and guides to further reading and the Middle Ages in film
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It is not easy to produce a readable and accurate history of a thousand year period, especially following an established pattern. Hall, a medievalist who teaches at Franklin Academy has managed to cover the most important points of the period in a comprehensible manner. Some of the summaries are slightly misleading because of their brevity, such as the part on the Children's Crusade but, on the whole, he has succeeded amazingly well. He even manages to dispel some of the persistent myths about the period such as the right of the first night and that people thought the earth was flat. Hall also mentions some lesser known people and events, like King Dinas of Portugal and the growth of technology. For those who wish to go beyond "idiot" level, Hall provides an excellent bibliography by some of the most accurate and readable scholars in the field. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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