Unlock the Secrets of the Middle Ages with Susan Wise Bauer's The History of the Medieval World

DAVID: Good book

Canada on Jul 28, 2023

JD Chicago: 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.

United States on May 13, 2023

Timsgal80: Love this book and all others by this author. They are not "quick reads", it takes a while to read and digest all of the awesome information provided!

United States on Apr 06, 2023

Amazon Customer: I ordered this today having just finished ‘ancient world’ and am looking forward to starting it. I love the way SWB writes, it flows so well and the occasional humour makes me chuckle. Would absolutely recommend and buy her stuff as gifts

United Kingdom on Aug 26, 2021

Pedro López: 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.

Mexico on Jul 20, 2021

D. MACKENZIE: 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?

United Kingdom on Oct 20, 2020

Bollman: 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.

United States on Aug 24, 2020

Glyn Holton: 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....

United States on Sep 13, 2015

Clark Webb: "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...

United States on Sep 26, 2014

Greycat: 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.

United Kingdom on Apr 02, 2011