Here, National Book Award winner Richard Winston explores life in the Middle Ages – from the fifth to the fifteenth centuries, beginning with the fall of the Roman Empire and ending with the dawn of the Renaissance. In both countryside and cities, from the peasants to the bourgeoisie to the nobility, no aspect of life in this era is left unexplored.
I love reading about how others live both in current times and hundreds of years ago. This book is for all of us history buffs who can never get enough.
Gave a very good account of how lives were lead in the Middle Ages.
Recommend only to those who are passionately interested in the period. Very dry.
Maybe this is a problem with expectations, but I was hoping for a little more meat – more detail. The book did correct a couple of misconceptions I had about life in the middle ages. The book was interesting in that it focused completely on life in the middle ages without going into an discussion of history, which is exactly what I was looking for. I guess I was hoping for more details.
Informative but dull!
I recommend this book to those who are looking for an easy-to-read, straightforward social guide to the Middle Ages. There is not depth but there is accessible information that is a good starting place to one interested in the Middle Ages.
Boring
Before reading this book I only had a basic knowledge of what life was like in the middle ages so i found this book to be very informative and easy to read. I like that this book covers all walks of life in the middle ages from peasants to nobility.
Superficial and paints a bit of a rosy picture of some aspects of the lives of all degrees of the population.Maybe a good beginning if you doing know anything about the historical.
A different look at the era through the daily lives of the different classes
This book is the perfect companion for readers of historical novels set in the Middle Ages. The author covers various aspects of life that help the reader to understand the customs, mores, thinking, architecture, and other characteristics of this period.
Eye opening.
This book is what it claims to be. It’s a description of life in the Middle Ages. I was curious because this period of time was essentially skipped in my school history classes. However it seems life only existed in France at that time. It is about as interesting as a non-fiction history book can be for someone who is not a history buff.
Mostly about French related issues. Very informative on that but would have liked the Italian, German, English, Scottish issues covered as well
This book could have been written so much better and been more informative.
A great book. Excellent writing. My only complaint is that it was too short. I could have read at least again as much if it was expanded into the effects of early renaissance or the crusades. It seems that the dark ages weren’t so dark after all.
Excellent, factual, entertaining
I expected to read about the real lives of the people of the Middle Ages, I know so little about that period. This book was as interesting as reading the encyclopedia about a subject you don’t want to know about. BORING, BORING, BORING.
Perhaps, if you are a scholar and want dry material about this period this book would fit the bill. I couldn’t get past the first chapter. (And that’s saying something since I often read a book I don’t like to the end just hoping it will get better.)
Caution: This book is boring.