A History of the Middle Ages

By: Crane Brinton, John Christopher, Robert Wolff

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 19 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

A History of the Middle Ages is the amazing story of European man in transition. It is a dramatic chronicle of 1,000 years of political, social, and economic transformation beginning with the dissolution of the classical Mediterranean civilization and ending with the first flowering of the Renaissance. It is also the story of two new religions, Christianity and Islam, both of which were destined to dominate the mind of every person in those new civilizations arising in their wake. This was the great Age of Faith, a time of darkness and a time of enlightenment...a time of lords and vassals, popes and kings, and commerce and cathedrals.

This great history starts with a survey of Christianity, then continues with an exploration of the "dark ages" following the fall of Rome, before proceeding with an explanation of how Europe coped with, and absorbed, the barbarians who overran the Empire. It goes on to trace the development of feudalism and Islam, and describes the harrowing survival of Byzantium throughout the brutal chaos that swirled about the Eastern Roman Empire during the 9th and 10th centuries. Discover how national monarchies and the modern nation state came into being, how the West responded to the Islamic invasions, and how Christianity penetrated into the farthest reaches of Northern Europe. Understand the dramatic repercussions of the Great Schism in Christianity and how economic change in the West almost destroyed the church. Finally, discover the events which gave rise to the magnificent flowering of the Gothic Age and the explosion of knowledge which subsequently paved the way for the Renaissance. The Middle Ages were the precursor to everything which we in the west consider "modern." This beautifully written history tells you why.

©2004 Audio Connoisseur (P)2004 Audio Connoisseur

A Historical Outline of the Middle Ages

The narrator was very good and for the most part I found this book quite informative. However, dispite the more than 18 hours of this book, it didn't really cover any particular era of history in much detail. There is enough here to give one a general idea of the foundations of modern western countries and social customs. The authors did succeed in making me more curious about european history. If that was their intent, they have done a marvalous job. There was enough detail that it left me with a much better understanding of the foundations of western culture, and for that, I consider it time well spent.

Trivia book of the Middle Ages!

This is a good trivia book on the Middle Ages. Any book on so large a subject tends to be a "trivia book" because you can't go into any depth and not end up with an encyclopedia. That said, it was well done and well read.
My only complaint would be the music and chanting in the background which took me quite awhile to get used to. (In fact at one point I gave up on this book because of this.)

There are several sections that are touched upon in this volume. Christianity and Islam are well represented as well as country histories of France, Germany, Turkey, Britain, Russia and the Mongols.

I felt this was a balanced book on the Crusades and the Byzantium Empire. I do think if you want to know more about these subjects there are better books but this is a nice overview for those with a casual interest.

Almost Perfect!

If you are at all interested in the time period, you will love this book. If you are not interested in the time period, but you are curious about the impact of christianity on the western world, or if you are interested in the formation of modern government, you will love this book. If you are curious about what ever happened to the Roman Empire, or want to know more about the mechanics of feudalism and serfdom, you will love this book. Honestly, I was astounded by how much the book was able to pack into in only 19 hours. If only the book were longer!
I also really enjoyed the narrator's voice, but that is something you can judge for yourself.

Now there were two shortcomings. First, if you want a deep dive on the crusades, you will want to look elsewhere; there is simply not enough time to do the subject justice - though it is discussed.
My second issue was not with substance, but with organization. The book has almost too many topics, which makes for a very encompassing view of the middle ages. However, I found it jarring - particularly in the later parts of the book when the author required the reader to jump in and out of various time periods to explain this or that. I found myself taking notes (because I'm a nerd apparently) so that I could properly categorize the information and process it in a more fluid timeline. That is not to say the author did a bad job with it by any means - jumping from piece to piece is necessary for a history as concise as this. Especially when two or more events are happening simultaneously and it makes more sense to talk about each by topic rather than sticking to a true timeline. Fortunately, the transitional music/sounds between chapters is a good little hint that helps reorient the listener to each new topic.

Overall, I was amazed by the book. I was not at all ready for it to end, and now wish that this was merely the abridged version of a much longer book. Just do yourself a favor and pick this one up!

Excellent Book

I liked the cogent straightforward approach to history provided in this book. I like that it sheds light on the present day based upon the histories of various countries and the stories of their development. I didn't especially like the musical transitions at the end of each section. They always surprised me and threw me off. Still overall I loved the book.

Some of it good, some of it bad.

There are two basic ways to write history books. You can do your own research, or you can read a lot of other historians' books and compile what they wrote into a textbook, ideally by integrating all the other works into one consistent theory. This book is the latter, but without the integration.

It seems to have been compiled from sources written at different times, because some of it is current on medieval research, while parts are outdated. For instance, it seems more to describe modern than ancient or medieval Christianity while seeming to defend the religion more than to analyze it. Later, the authors have no problem rejecting Islamic religious tradition to write that history. This inconsistency is present in other areas than religion, but it's harder to illustrate. For instance, the authors take at face value the stories of the wicked Merovingian kings while more objectively analysing Emperor Justinian's biographer.

Overall I'd say this is a bad history book. Parts are outdated, parts are poorly researched, and parts seem to be written with only a slight knowledge of the subject, as if the writer were paraphrasing other textbooks.

I gave it three stars instead of two because of its range. It tells the history of Rome, Europe, Byzantium, Russia, Eastern Europe, and the bare basics of Islamic history, and while it tells them wrong sometimes, many books don't even attempt that.

The narrator is another story. He is so dramatic it's almost farcical at times, and he even makes otherwise mundane passages seem controversial with the emphasis he puts into them, as when he describes Jesus as having "iron." He's almost as funny as the narrator of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Just don't take him too seriously and try to see past his tone to the text beyond.

Great Material: Hard Listen

Great information, thorough and power packed facts reside in this book. If you learn best through listening, perhaps this book is for you. If you need to ruminate and grasp facts and concepts before moving on, this book moves way to fast, in my opinion. It is one of the titles I've downloaded that I will listen to when I already have a framework set, and understanding of this period in western civilization, and then I can use this book as a solid review. Now, I use it to help my insomnia.

Insightful and Informative

Yes, this book starts out with what sounds like Christian propaganda. And yes, Charlton Griffin's voice can be distracting in its theatricality (he often sounds like J. Peterman from Seinfeld). And yes, this book moves very quickly. Get past these minor irritations and you're left with a comprehensive and at times mind-boggling survey of economic, political, and intellectual movements spanning the 1600 years from the Roman Empire to the rise of Early Modern Europe. If you've ever wondered where the bourgeoisie came from, why leaders call themselves "Czar" and "Kaiser", or even if you'd like to impress your friends by knowing the difference between a Realist and a Nominalist, this book is worth your time. Skip it if you're looking for a story about knights in shining armor.

Makes history relevant to today.

The audio book points out that we have modern preconceptions of the English, Germans, and the French. The book suggest that our preconceptions are formed by the historical development for each country into a nation-state and factors such as the separation of powers between the kings, barons and peasants formed how each country will develop slightly different from each other.

I had bought this audio book over five years ago before I listened to it. My bad. It's a very listenable book. It does read like a text book and throws a lot of dates and peoples names at you, but I enjoy a well written and narrated text book.

An excellent overview

What about Charlton Griffin’s performance did you like?

I liked the narrator's accent and clarity.

Any additional comments?

This is a great overview of the history of Europe in the Middle Ages. It also gives enough information about the Roman, Byzantine, Russian and Islamic history to place the story in context.

Impressed But Yet Not Totally Satisfied!

What made the experience of listening to A History of the Middle Ages the most enjoyable?

The reading of this audio book is performed well but this particular reading is a little difficult for me to listen to and stay focused on the information being presented. I don't really understand why!

What about Charlton Griffin’s performance did you like?

Griffin's performace was very good but I was a little distracted by his loftiness (or something else I can't quite identify). I am actually still listening to this book and enjoying it, but I think listening to the book by someone a little more into the story would have minimized the distraction I feel listening to this work by this reader. Again, his performance was quite good technically but I think it lacks feeling or involvement with the history being told.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

It would have to be a documentary and its title would be somehing like "Shining a Light on the Dark Ages."

Any additional comments?

I wish the audio (Audible) version of this book were available by various readers (unheard of, I know). This audio book listener would have preferred a reader who puts a little inflection into the reading, like Nadio May who read Paul Johnson's "A History of the American People" or David McCullough who read his own book, "1776."

And, I don't know exactly why but I feel that these two named readers do a more down to earth heart felt reading as if they were involved with the story telling rather than a disinterested lecturer who had lectured this history one too many times.