East Central and Eastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages

by Florin Curta (Editor), Joachim Henning, Paul M. Barford

The first book in English to blend history and archaeology for a period of history currently receiving much scholarly attention, East Central and Eastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages examines key problems of the early medieval history of Eastern Europe, with particular reference to society, state, and the conversion to Christianity, and the diverse ways in which these aspects have been approached in the historiography of the region. The included essays examine the documentary and archaeological evidence of early medieval Europe in an attempt to assess its importance in understanding the construction of cultural identity and the process of political mobilization for the rise of the states. The book addresses an audience of historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, and linguists with an interest in the history of Eastern Europe.

Genres: History

400 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2005

About the author

Florin Curta is Waldo W. Neikirk Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology at the University of Florida. His books include: The Making of the Slavs. History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube region, c. 500-700 (2001), which received the Herbert Baxter Adams prize of the American Historical Association; and Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250 (2005). He is also the editor of East Central and Eastern Europe in the Early Middle Ages (2005) and Borders, Barriers, and Ethnogenesis (2006). He is currently completing a monograph on Moravia and Bulgaria in the ninth century.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I am being a little mean with this rating - the book IS good and it really isn't much out there in English on this subject. However, quite a few of the articles (especially in the first two parts) are tantalizingly short, ending far too soon and leaving the reader wanting more.

But on the whole this is a good book on interesting times (in this book the Early Middle Ages means 500-1000, circa) and areas I know too little about. It's a collection of essays arranged in three parts: Economic and social structures, The rise of the state, and Conversion - with articles about everything from "Salt trade and warfare" to "Archaeology and the beginning of the Polish state", and "Creating Khazar identity through coins" (the last one, by Roman K. Kovalev was one of my favourite texts in this book - even though I am not all that into coins).

Generally speaking I found the last part (Conversion) the most interesting - though the others were not uninteresting, I hasten to add. It could be due to the subject matter, or it could be because many of the articles there were longer and therefore more satisfying to read.