The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History: Revised Edition (Hist Atlas)

McEvedy's shamlessly Eurocentric view is a breath of fresh air in a world polluted by the smog of neo-anthropological cultural correctness. If you want to learn about the who, what, when, and where [emphasis on the last two] of Europe/the Near East during the Middle Ages, then this is the book for you. The maps are highly detailed; the text is informative and easy to read. You won't get lost in a labyrinth of meaningless jibberish. Buy this book--you will not be sorry. I promise.

I read the old edition, from the library, and it is completely one of the most fascinating books I've ever read. It was recommended as background reading for a history of Western Christianity course I took. This book is perhaps not as furnished with specific details as some would prefer, but as a comprehensive overview of the Mediterranean world in the middle ages it is extremely successful. It is true that the book focuses only on Europe and the world specifically surrounding it (North Africa, the near East, Scandinavia and some of Russia) but I think it is also arguable that we consider "the medieval world" to be specifically that area in light of the social and cultural history associated with the Middle Ages. Using the same map over again is extremely useful and makes the book easy to understand (producing an enjoyable flip-book effect, as another reviewer said). The text is wonderful: though dense, it is extremely easy to understand and McEvedy brings an enjoyable personal flavor to his narration. The absence of most significant landmarks on the map is sometimes inconvenient; I found myself turning to the full map in the index quite frequently. However, I feel that not cluttering the maps with excess print is probably worth the inconvenience. Throughout the book, specific people are identified by an elaborate shading-and-bordering system that, once one has adjusted to it, makes reading the maps very easy. If you are looking for an informative and fantastically compelling broad history of the middle ages, this is a most desirable book.

Most of us, especially in America, have received a very slanted view of medieval history in Europe. It takes something as simple as this book to put things into perspective. In the nearly fifty maps included, you get a great feeling for the progression of the many empires that rose and fell from the time of Rome to the Age of Discovery. When compared to the more comprehensive 'Atlas of Medieval Europe', this title falls short in the amount of depth covered, but is far superior in organization and consistency of information. A must for any medieval enthusiast.

If you're looking for a very detailed history of the times between 362AD to 1478AD, this is not the work for you. It is a very broad overview of the era, however, with political maps every 40 years on average, and every two or three centuries a map showing the divisions between the eastern and western church and trade routes. Each map is accompanied by a narrative that tries to concisely cover the history of the area shown (Europe, North Africa and the Middle East). A truly excellent reference that I would highly recommend to anyone who is studying this era in a more detailed text.