A History of Medieval Europe: From Constantine to Saint Louis

I read this book from cover to cover as part of a course I did on Medieval Church History - this book is about history in general, but I guess that it deals with a time period where the church was so ubiquitous that there is little need to deal 'separately' with church matters. Indeed, Davis gives entire chapters on things like the rise of the Papacy and the First Two Crusades. His book deals with a massive expanse of history and geography. He delves into matters concerning Russia, the Mongols, the Sassanids etc. etc. when needed, but his focus is overwhelmingly continental Europe - as the title leads us to expect. The book is actually organised thematically, which is quite amazing. Of course the chapters come in a kind of chronological sequence, but what Davis seeks to do, daringly, is to highlight the major issues of this period of time (such as Feudalism, or the Investiture Controversy, for instance), and tell history that way. Only a master of the field would attempt such as thing, and Davis pulls it off remarkably. Nonetheless, the result is kind of... potted. It's just too easy to lose a sense of flow as he shifts gears to move from one theme to another. You come out of the book appreciating medieval history, and understanding certain things (such as Justinian's conquests and the Fall of Rome, for example) really well. What's lacking sometimes is a sense of how these things fit together and what the overall sequence of events actually was. Don't get me wrong - this is a brilliant book. The timelines at the beginning of each chapter and the appendices at the end are excellent frames for what is a lucid and incredibly informative text. For all I know, this is the best book there is dealing with this expanse of history, and I feel so enriched to really understand the 'whys and wherefores' of so many crucial turning-points in history such as the rise of monasteries and the sickening Fourth Crusade. I do definitely recommend this book, but it gets 4 stars from me because I found it just a bit too potted. (The most bizarre thing of all is that the introduction to the second half of the book is all about architecture - but at no other point does Davis say anything about architecture other than in that 'introductory' section. Weird! I guess things like this give 'character' to a book.) [Footnote: Just so people know, Davis was a brilliant medieval scholar who wrote this book about 60 years ago for an introductory course he taught on medieval history - it was a compulsory background unit for students of modern history! Now, another scholar named Moore has revised the text a little, updated the 'Further Reading' sections and added Appendicies dealing with major debates and research that have occurred since the book was published. As I've said, these updates and new sections are good. What's most astonishing, however, is the way that Davis seems to have 'anticipated' a great deal of the scholarly work that would be done later - his analysis of Feu

This is the thinking man's intro to medieval history. It's complex, thoughful, never dry, lucidly organized, and, surprisingly, barely dated at all. This man must have been on the cutting edge of his time for his work to be so strong after 50 years. Be sure to get the newer edition with the little update at the end of each chapter, responding to recent scholarship. You won't find a smarter or easier-to-read short survey of medieval history anywhere.