Best Middle Ages Books
The best books that are about, set in, or written in the Middle Ages time period. (The 5th century to the 15th century)
1 The Pillars of the Earth  (...
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4.24 of 5 stars 4.24 avg rating — 227,355 ratings
2 The Name of the Rose
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4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 avg rating — 103,512 ratings
3 The Canterbury Tales
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3.44 of 5 stars 3.44 avg rating — 81,937 ratings
4 Beowulf: A New Verse Transl...
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3.35 of 5 stars 3.35 avg rating — 95,945 ratings
5 A Distant Mirror:  The Cala...
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4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 avg rating — 9,614 ratings
6 World Without End (The Pill...
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4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 avg rating — 68,791 ratings
7 The Sunne in Splendour
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4.39 of 5 stars 4.39 avg rating — 8,619 ratings
8 Le Morte d'Arthur: King Art...
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3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 15,629 ratings
9 Sir Gawain and the Green Kn...
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3.63 of 5 stars 3.63 avg rating — 21,749 ratings
10 Ivanhoe
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3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 avg rating — 35,496 ratings
11 Inferno (The Divine Comedy,...
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3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 49,864 ratings
12 The Once and Future King (T...
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4.04 of 5 stars 4.04 avg rating — 49,608 ratings
13 The Decameron
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3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 avg rating — 11,540 ratings
14 Doomsday Book
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4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 14,799 ratings
15 Here be Dragons (Welsh Prin...
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4.31 of 5 stars 4.31 avg rating — 8,951 ratings
16 Macbeth
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3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 avg rating — 248,994 ratings
17 When Christ and His Saints ...
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4.26 of 5 stars 4.26 avg rating — 5,554 ratings
18 Katherine
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4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 avg rating — 12,339 ratings
19 The Song of Roland
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3.5 of 5 stars 3.50 avg rating — 5,369 ratings
20 The Divine Comedy
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4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 41,375 ratings
21 The Last Kingdom (The Saxon...
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4.16 of 5 stars 4.16 avg rating — 12,579 ratings
22 Falls the Shadow  (Welsh Pr...
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4.34 of 5 stars 4.34 avg rating — 3,916 ratings
23 Mistress of the Art of Deat...
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3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 avg rating — 15,980 ratings
24 How the Irish Saved Civiliz...
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3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 avg rating — 13,634 ratings
25 Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life
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3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 6,034 ratings
26 Hamlet
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3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 avg rating — 275,793 ratings
27 The Reckoning  (Welsh Princ...
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4.41 of 5 stars 4.41 avg rating — 3,586 ratings
28 Cathedral: The Story of Its...
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4.19 of 5 stars 4.19 avg rating — 777 ratings
29 The Romance of Tristan and ...
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3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 avg rating — 2,757 ratings
30 Catherine, Called Birdy
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3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 avg rating — 19,826 ratings
31 Time and Chance (Henry II &...
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4.24 of 5 stars 4.24 avg rating — 3,166 ratings
32 Timeline
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3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 avg rating — 81,923 ratings
33 A World Lit Only by Fire
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3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 avg rating — 4,537 ratings
34 Foucault's Pendulum
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3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 avg rating — 27,218 ratings
35 A Connecticut Yankee in Kin...
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3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 avg rating — 46,592 ratings
36 Baudolino
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3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 avg rating — 8,807 ratings
37 The Time Traveller's Guide ...
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4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 avg rating — 3,039 ratings
38 The Letters of Abélard and ...
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3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 1,594 ratings
39 La catedral del mar
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3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 7,409 ratings
40 In a Dark Wood Wandering: A...
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4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 avg rating — 570 ratings
41 The Midwife's Apprentice
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3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 avg rating — 20,399 ratings
42 The Prose Edda
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4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 avg rating — 2,979 ratings
43 The Mabinogion
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3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 avg rating — 2,721 ratings
44 The History of the Kings of...
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3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 avg rating — 2,118 ratings
45 Ecclesiastical History of t...
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3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 1,507 ratings
46 The Daughter of Time
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3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 avg rating — 8,445 ratings
47 Devil's Brood  (Henry II & ...
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4.32 of 5 stars 4.32 avg rating — 2,525 ratings
48 The Waning of the Middle Ages
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4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 avg rating — 958 ratings
49 The Nibelungenlied
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3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 avg rating — 1,925 ratings
50 Castle
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4.21 of 5 stars 4.21 avg rating — 1,600 ratings
51 The Lais of Marie de France
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3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 avg rating — 2,143 ratings
52 The Pale Horseman (The Saxo...
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4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 avg rating — 7,810 ratings
53 The Year 1000: What Life Wa...
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3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 avg rating — 1,871 ratings
54 Company Of Liars
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3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 avg rating — 3,952 ratings
55 The Civilization of the Mid...
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3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 avg rating — 804 ratings
56 The Physician (Cole Family ...
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4.3 of 5 stars 4.30 avg rating — 7,888 ratings
57 The Scarlet Lion (William M...
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4.23 of 5 stars 4.23 avg rating — 1,917 ratings
58 Les rois maudits Vols 1-7
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4.42 of 5 stars 4.42 avg rating — 460 ratings
59 The Archer's Tale (The Grai...
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4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 avg rating — 7,199 ratings
60 Azincourt
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4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 avg rating — 7,251 ratings
61 Lords of the North (The Sax...
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4.23 of 5 stars 4.23 avg rating — 7,601 ratings
62 Lionheart
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4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 avg rating — 1,723 ratings
63 The Serpent's Tale (Mistres...
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3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 5,902 ratings
64 The Discarded Image: An Int...
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4.23 of 5 stars 4.23 avg rating — 667 ratings
65 The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
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3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 57,406 ratings
66 Njal's Saga
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4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 avg rating — 1,404 ratings
67 One Corpse Too Many (Chroni...
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4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 avg rating — 4,269 ratings
68 Life in a Medieval City
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3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 752 ratings
69 Terry Jones' Medieval Lives
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3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 avg rating — 532 ratings
70 The Monsters and the Critic...
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4.28 of 5 stars 4.28 avg rating — 764 ratings
71 1066: The Year of the Conquest
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4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 1,179 ratings
72 Arthurian Romances
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3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 3,091 ratings
73 In the Wake of the Plague: ...
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3.48 of 5 stars 3.48 avg rating — 2,116 ratings
74 The Mists of Avalon (The Mi...
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4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 avg rating — 90,247 ratings
75 Sword Song (The Saxon Stori...
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4.19 of 5 stars 4.19 avg rating — 6,050 ratings
76 The Book of Margery Kempe
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3.21 of 5 stars 3.21 avg rating — 1,058 ratings
77 The Merry Adventures of Rob...
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4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 avg rating — 21,952 ratings
78 Eaters of the Dead
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3.56 of 5 stars 3.56 avg rating — 16,426 ratings
79 The Travels
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3.58 of 5 stars 3.58 avg rating — 1,448 ratings
80 Inventing the Middle Ages
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3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 avg rating — 169 ratings
81 The Greatest Knight (Willia...
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4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 avg rating — 3,138 ratings
82 A Morbid Taste for Bones (C...
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3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 avg rating — 11,837 ratings
83 Vagabond (The Grail Quest, #2)
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3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 avg rating — 4,578 ratings
84 The Return of Martin Guerre
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3.56 of 5 stars 3.56 avg rating — 1,144 ratings
85 The Anglo Saxon Chronicle
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3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 avg rating — 166 ratings
86 The Owl Killers
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3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 avg rating — 1,269 ratings
87 The Last Plantagenets (The ...
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4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 avg rating — 451 ratings
88 The Virgin in the Ice
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4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 avg rating — 2,648 ratings
89 Egil's Saga
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4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 698 ratings
90 The Three Edwards (The Plan...
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4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 avg rating — 388 ratings
91 A History of the Franks
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3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 avg rating — 437 ratings
92 Excalibur (The Warlord Chro...
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4.32 of 5 stars 4.32 avg rating — 6,374 ratings
93 The Bruce Trilogy: Steps to...
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4.28 of 5 stars 4.28 avg rating — 299 ratings
94 The Long Ships
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4.31 of 5 stars 4.31 avg rating — 1,434 ratings
95 Mysteries of the Middle Age...
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3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 1,348 ratings
96 The Queen's Man (Justin de ...
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3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 avg rating — 2,826 ratings
97 Saint Joan
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3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 avg rating — 2,882 ratings
98 Heretic (The Grail Quest, #3)
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4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 4,353 ratings
99 A Proud Taste for Scarlet a...
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3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 avg rating — 1,448 ratings
100 Medieval Reader
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3.65 of 5 stars 3.65 avg rating — 88 ratings
602 books · 709 voters · list created July 16th, 2008 by Steven Harbin (votes) .
 · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 500 seconds.


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Comments (showing 1-12 of 12) (12 new)

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message 1: by Brett (new)

Brett Sorge If you are talking about middle ages historical fiction how come Bernard Cornwall is not one of the mentioned books/author??? He is definitely the champ of writing on this period!


message 2: by IWB (new)

IWB The list is ABOUT the Middle Ages (i.e., secondary sources), not books FROM the middle-Ages (i.e., primary sources). Thus, the Mabinogion, Bede, Beowulf,Boccaccio, Chaucer, Marie de France, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ought not to be on the list.


message 3: by Steven (new)

Steven Harbin Brett,
Which particular titles of Bernard Cornwell 's would you suggest? I've never read any of his works, but I've had friends suggest him.
Also, you know you can add books to the list and vote for them, right?



message 4: by Steven (new)

Steven Harbin IW,
I'm of a like mind, I only voted (initially) for secondary works and historical novels but I could see a case for including works from the MA as well...but you're correct than in that case the list title probably should be slightly changed...


message 5: by Brett (last edited Dec 11, 2009 02:39pm) (new)

Brett brett,
I couldn't agree more! I clicked on this list expecting to see loads of bernard cornwell! He is really an awesome writer. I really think his books define the genre.

Steve,

I would suggest Vagabond, The Archer's Tale, and Heretic. I believe these three books comprise The Grail Quest series?? They are so amazing! Well, I am being a bit partial with these suggestions; they are the only Cornwell I've read. I'm sure there are other great titles as well..

...o yea and IWB...you're a dipshit. This is a list ok, "books that are about, set in, or written in the Middle Ages," therefore the list should include books FROM the Middle Ages..moron..






message 6: by Susanna (new)

Susanna It's easy enough to add books to the list - the form is over at the right-hand side of the page ("find/add books to list")


message 7: by Chipchick (new)

Chipchick I loved the Grail Series by Cornwell. As well as Azincourt.


Barbara Gem(ini) "The Marlowe Conspiracy" is set in 16th century - it's hardly middle ages.


message 9: by Andrew (new)

Andrew Foucault's Pendulum seems like a stretch to me. The novel is set in the 20th century, and though the characters spend a lot of time discussing the Templars, the book is still not medieval.


message 10: by Michael (new)

Michael "Agricola and the Germania" by Tacitus should be deleted as it was written in the 1st century CE, and "A Canticle for Leibowitz" is set in the future after a nuclear war, so again not really MA and should be deleted from the list.


message 11: by Beatriz (new)

Beatriz Lara silva Andrew wrote: "Foucault's Pendulum seems like a stretch to me. The novel is set in the 20th century, and though the characters spend a lot of time discussing the Templars, the book is still not medieval."


message 12: by Beatriz (new)

Beatriz Lara silva I agree insted the name of the rose should be right in the middle age


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