The History of the Medieval World

From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade

By: Susan Wise Bauer

Narrated by: John Lee

From the schism between Rome and Constantinople to the rise of the T'ang Dynasty, from the birth of Muhammad to the crowning of Charlemagne, this erudite book tells the fascinating, often violent story of kings, generals, and the peoples they ruled. In her earlier work, The History of the Ancient World, Susan Wise Bauer wrote of the rise of kingship based on might. But in the years between the fourth and the 12th centuries, rulers had to find new justification for their power, and they turned to divine truth or grace to justify political and military action. Right thus replaces might as the engine of empire. Not just Christianity and Islam but the religions of the Persians and the Germans, and even Buddhism, are pressed into the service of the state. This phenomenon---stretching from the Americas all the way to Japan---changes religion, but it also changes the state.

©2010 Susan Wise Bauer (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

“[A] witty and well-written examination of world history...that is rich in detail and intriguing in anecdotal information.” ( Publishers Weekly)

A lot of facts, a lot of names, places dates

There is a whole lot of 'one darn thing after another' in the telling of this story. Even the author herself would probably not be able to answer all the questions from a multiple choice test based on this book. At times, it did get overwhelming with all the names and places and dates which are presented in this story.

The narrative for weaving the story together coherently at times seemed to be missing. The particular sometimes needs a glue in order for the bigger, universal story to be understood. It's possible to look at and study every turtle in the known universe, but still not understand what turtle being really means.

I felt the book excelled at early Christian church history and what the nature of the trinity meant, the different ways of understanding the divinity of Christ, and the development of the orthodox Western Church and the Eastern Church. All early Christian 'isms' such as Nestorianism, Manicheism, Arianism, and so on usually confuse me, but she would repeat the definition as they came up in the story telling thus allowing me to follow the esoteric fine points. The author also would emphasis the importance of identity in order for a group of people to become greater than the sum of its parts thus allowing for a cohesive system of some kind transcending what was previously there beforehand.

I thought a slightly better book on this topic was Will Durant's Volume IV of "The Story of Civilization: The Age of Faith". He has a narrative that tied the story together, and he also looked at the development of thought in addition to the political events that were covered in this book, and he presented most of the same facts (at least in Europe), but I never felt overwhelmed by his story telling as I sometimes would with this book because he knows that history needs a narrative in order to be understood.

Wars & Kings

Would you try another book from Susan Wise Bauer and/or John Lee?

No

What was most disappointing about Susan Wise Bauer’s story?

Too much emphasis on wars and kings and not enough emphasis on culture, religion, values, etc. Also, far too much emphasis on non-European countries such as China, India and Persia. The book should advertise this because when a Westerner reads a book on medieval history he expects European history.

What does John Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Nice voice.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No.

Outstanding in all respects

Susan is a great story-teller. This book should be required reading for all humans.

Comprehensive Outline of History

I have been a history fan for many years.Medieval World linked together much as of what I've learned making a great framework on which to hang earlier studies. For the newer history buff, MW is a good starting point. A guide to further topic selection.

Awesome!!!!!

So well written and full of facts. Susan stays right close with telling the story of what happened...........the human behavior.....and stears very clear of trying to define purpose. Author is absolutely excellent. Narrator is great!!!!!