Medieval History for Dummies by Stephen J. Batchelor

Medieval History for Dummies Reviews

• 
  Jibran

  Does reading a book from the Dummies series make you a dummy? Does it make you any less dummy? Or ? I debated with myself if it was a suitable book to acuaint myself with what the book title declares with a grandilouent all inclusive title of Medieval History For Dummies Does the fact that the book only covers European medieval history prove the book itself is kind of dummy?Within the broad timeline of what is called the Medieval Ages I am I should think reasonably well covered in the history of South Asia Middle East and to some humble extent North Africa; but my understanding of East Asian history and that of Europe is abysmal excepting Crusades which unfortunately are perceived to play a catalytic role in some modern conflicts So when I came across this book accidentally I might add I checked chapter titles and skim read a couple selectively I liked itI was almost thrown off by the spurious introduction which is uite telling in that European academia has long trivialised that fascinating period of history with the excuse that not much was happening at home in Europe at that time Recent scholarship has corrected this view because the fact that Europe wasn't the centre of world attention did not mean nothing important was happening Nevertheless old attitudes still linger on as evinced in the following uote The author writes I haven’t always been interested in the Middle Ages My main interest used to be the Ancient World of Greece and Rome and the Middle Ages always seemed to me a bit like the clearing up after a particularly good party The period can be difficult to get your head around what with being in the middle rather than at the start or at the end The times were certainly confusing too with bits of territory changing hands all the time and just as you get used to a king or a succession of kings they all die and somebody else takes over view spoilerClearing up after a particularly good party I'm definitely not an agelast but what a distasteful analogy for a period of history hide spoiler
• 
  Ty

  I got this as a gag graduation gift and thought that it was going to suck but I was wrong It was highly informative without being too dense or chock full of jargon It introduced all the major factorspeople of the Middle Ages seemlessly and explained how things tied in together As a history major one that is specializing in the Middle Ages I strongly recommend the book for those interested in the peroid
• 
  Berni Phillips

  It's basic but that's what I need I got bogged down in the Crusades I hear there was a lot of that back then and started skimming until I got to British stuff I wish he had gone so uickly from the beginning of Henry VI to the Renaissance skipping the whole Lancaster vs York drama On the other hand that's what I'm familiar with
• 
  Nat

  I had no real background with the Middle Ages and this book helped me kickstart my newfound interest in the period It is divided into very clear sections and never goes into great details but it manages to condense a 1000 year period into a succinct guide The writers tone is usually humorous but he also is somber when he needs to be The one complaint I have is that whenever he references something that was already covered in the book he puts a note that says something like You can read about THAT in chapter 12 even if we literally just read it the paragraph before It's kind of distracting and gets really annoying the 400th time around Other than that I recommend the book to anyone who knows next to nothing about medieval history and wants a wikipedia like introduction I now feel comfortable in reading something that is a bit in depth
• 
  Patty

  Provides a good if very condensed survey of the years 600 1600 or less A good intro to the time period but it left me wanting Sometimes it is annoying that the author keeps reminding the reader that you can learn about X on page xx or we will discuss topic Y later or he explained topic Z earlier But it provided some good background info as a starting point for further research
• 
  Aphrodite

  This book makes such a good introduction for the medieval era It is an easy read and it is actually the first history book that I had so much fun reading it The eighth chapter which talks about the Vikings was sooo good and definitely one of my favorites
• 
  Shiloh

  Fairly concise readable overview of some of the major incidents people and trends of the Middle Ages I would have liked a for further reading section or bibliography to point me to good places to start reading in detail
• 
  Lewi

  It is a right book to start your journey to Medieval Age
• 
  Clorush

  uiet a wonderful introduction to those that are interested in medieval Europe
• 
  Richard

  My First Voluntary History Book It was a lot of fun I learned a lot and will be looking into Medieval History and Dummy Books