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

I love to hear about the "middle ages"!

This really is my very favorite narrator. I love the way he speaks to you as though he were sitting across from you and telling a story. This book is definitely a new take on the "middle ages". I like the way the author approaches the subject. I highly recommend!

Interesting but nothing new was presented

Would you listen to A History of the Middle Ages again? Why?

I probably would not. I did not find the information about the Middle Ages I had hoped to find. Basically I got a rehash of my college textbook.

Would you recommend A History of the Middle Ages to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend it to anyone who wants a refresher of what they learned in European History in undergraduate school.

What about Charlton Griffin’s performance did you like?

He read it with feeling, humor and authority.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Neither laughed nor cried

Any additional comments?

None

On second thoughts...

I've now listened to part two - and think I was a bit harsh. There's a LOT here. And while some is opaque or longwinded, I'd challenge anyone not to come away without better understanding of the times that formed us, and a new perspective on the times we live in. Not perfect, but considering it's scope, well worth purchasing.

Painfully pompous

This should be an interesting offering. Unfortunately both the book and the narrator are far too full of themselves. It's almost unlistenable. I was, however happy to find it made a very good sleep aid.

A History of the MA

Very informative; well written

Avoid this crap

This is a superb example of how not to write history. Aside from the shoddy research, worse writing, the blatant bias of the authors compels them to continuously whitewash Church history. This isn't history. It's propaganda, and not particularly good propaganda at that. The narrator is comically pretentious. It seems to be an attempt at giving the yokels a bit of pseudo-intellectual flimflam to mask the True Romance text and World Book research. If you're looking for a literate history of the early Middle Ages, try Winston's Charlemagne on audio, or try The Teaching Company for some excellent courses.

Very Poor

The music over the narration was off putting, I couldn't listen any more. A very poor choice on my half and the readers accent. I was expect life in the middle ages and all I got was Gregorian chanting or akin to.

Dreadful, biased and outdated.

After listening to this terrible book for one dreary chapter after another, I did some research on the authors and was not at all surprised to see that they were born in the 19th century, and died half a century ago.

This is the 1920s Oxford imperial mindset, cheerleaders for orthodox Christianity, ultra conservative and historically dishonest. This is NOT history.

Bad History, a Dishonest Sale

This book defies its own portentous touting of christian values by claiming to be history. If i wrote a book about fairies and leprechauns and called it history would it still appear in the history section?

there is little history only opionion, supposition and repeating of oft told fairy tales. if you have been unlucky enough to buy this shlokk then listen to it to remind yourself of how history has been manipulated and distorted over the millenia by "scholars" such as this with their own agendas.

and to the point on the narrator. was he in the throes of an elecution program? his prononciation wavered between pompous church of england to faux boston.

reads like a textbook ...

... only more tedious (and I am a big history fan).