Books like The Early Middle Ages by Philip Daileader

A young girl learns to be a midwife in medieval England.

This richly illustrated book tells the story of Europe and the Mediterranean over a thousand years which saw the creation of western civilization. Written by expert scholars and based on the latest research, it gives the general reader the most authoritative account of life in medieval Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire and the coming of the Renaissance. The story is one of profound diversity and change: the political empires of Charlemagne or the Byzantines, contrasting with the new nations which fought the Hundred Years War; the expression of religion in the great monasteries and cathedrals, and in the ideals of ecclesiastical poverty and reform; the mixed ambitions of the Crusades; the cultural worlds of chivalric knights and heroic romance, popular festivals, and the realism of the new arts; economic expansion and social catastrophe, such as the Black Death. The authors describe both the strange and the familiar. We have endured nothing comparable to the vast upheavals of migration and new institutions of the Dark Ages between 400 and 900. Consequently the new attitudes and ways of life that grew up from 900 to 1500 around the cathedrals and universities, the royal courts and commercial cities, remain central in modern societies. Our towns and villages, the nation state and democratic forms of government, our commerce and banking, our university courses, our novels and history books, our concern with the relationship between physical and spiritual realms-all had their origins in the medieval world. The six chapters in this book are divided between the Mediterranean world and northern Europe to show the movement of the centre of gravity in European life from the Mediterranean to the north. The authors explore the contrast between Byzantine and Renaissance cultures in the south and the new, complex political and social structures of north-west Europe, which by 1300 had the most advanced civilization the world had ever seen. Over two hundred illustrations, including twenty-four colour plates, amplify the text; and the picture is completed with comprehensive reference material in maps, genealogies, a chronology, lists of further reading, and a full index including personal dates.

A medieval mystery tale set during a civil war, where nobles must use their deductive skills to solve a murder and save an innocent man's life.

Very good for a research report. Plenty of great information.

Examines daily life in the Middle Ages, covering such aspects as chivalry, the great cathedrals, medieval technology, country life, and pilgrimages.

Joan, a servant in 12th-century Northumbria, battles the harsh realities of her new life while struggling with the weight of her duties and the monstrous demands of her husband and his cruel sister-in-law, descending into madness and a world of filth and horror in the twilight of the Middle Ages.

"Describes the life and times of the era known as the Middle Ages. The reader's choices reveal the historical details of life as a knight in the 1100s, life in a royal castle in the 1200s, and life during the Black Plague in the 1300s"--Provided by publisher.

Briefly describes conditions of life for noblemen, monks, priests, peasants, pilgrims, tradesmen, and others during the Middle Ages in Europe.