What is Medieval History? by Dr John H. Arnold

What is Medieval History? Reviews

• 
  Lucy Barnhouse

  This is an engaging and very useful book. It's thoughtful and passionate assessment of what medieval history as a field does, both methodologically and socially. Arnold's treatment of primary and secondary sources is thoughtful and lucid; I could easily imagine using this in an upper-level undergraduate class, or as first-week reading in an introductory graduate seminar.
  
  Arnold begins by questioning what we (imagined as a general public) think we know about the Middle Ages and how the Middle Ages are portrayed, and giving a brief history of historiographical trends and methods. Arnold points out that defining “the Middle Ages” will and must always be tendentious, and that engaging with the question of periodization critically is part of our work as scholars. Each of the central three chapters deals with a different theme: sources, interdisciplinary influences, and scholarly debates.
  
  As a currently-practicing medievalist, I found the first and last chapters particularly interesting, as in them, Arnold reflects on the practice (and uses) of medieval history as inherently tendentious, and also as a potentially vital public practice. Almost a decade after the book's publication, the need for questioning "the medieval" in public discourse is more pressing than ever.
• 
  JJ W.

  This is a delightful, no-nonsense conversation about, oddly enough, what medieval history is. Arnold's voice is incredibly conversational, easy to understand, and funny, which is a delight in any book, especially scholarly ones. Each chapter starts with a little vignette of some sort that he continues as an illustration of his point, which makes all of the chapters really easy to follow. And the last chapter, his justification of being a medievalist, is so good I'm going to retype some of it for you:
  "Around the time I began writing this book, we had some wood delivered in order to make book shelves. As I helped the delivery man unload the timber, he asked me what I did for a living. 'Medieval history,' I said. 'Oh,' he replied. 'Right....Much call for that, is there?'
  "Despite his doubtful tone, the question rather pleased me. It implied the possibility of an artisanal approach to studying the middle ages--a jobbing medieval historian called in to fix a particular kind of problem, implicitly standing alongside other skilled trades." (p. 119)
  If you're at all curious about the topic, read this. It's very good.
• 
  Rosemary Atwell

  A warm and engaging introduction to the current interdisciplinary methods that are shaping and extending the way in which historians are uncovering the intricacies of the period from 500-1500. Arnold's passion for his subject shines through in every sentence and it's impossible not to swept up in his enthusiasm - with academics like this at the forefront, the future of Medieval Studies is looking good.
• 
  Emma Gladwin

  I really enjoyed Arnold’s observations in this book. It prompted me to think about aspects of medieval history which I had never even considered before. Arnold’s exploration of historical research methods was also wonderful and certainly something which could be of great use to researchers. I most enjoyed the section which explored history’s interdisciplinary nature - particularly history’s relationship with texts, whether they be literary or not. Towards the end, I felt it was droning on a little, but I did enjoy the last section which explored the importance of medieval history today.
• 
  Scarlett Attari

  medieval history is good to think with
• 
  KimNica

  I'm not a historian but I don't know how you could introduce a discipline any better. This is a well-written and engaging work that taught a general interest reader like me a lot.
• 
  Luis

  This is not a book about the history of the Middle Ages, but on how can contenporary historians get a glimpse of that age. It shows how our knowledge of the Middle Age is sometimes biased by current political and social ideas, and how the very idea of a "middle time" between ages has been constructed by different generations of historians. Splendid.