Civilization During the Middle Ages

by George Burton Adams

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Genres: History

472 pages, Paperback

First published July 26, 2004

About the author

1851-1925

Reviews

[Harvey Levine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book ponderous and boring. There was too much heavy-handed exposition of facts and not enough insight into the workings of the minds of people from the Middle Ages.

The book begins with a long discussion, not of the Middle Ages, but of the Ancient world of Greece and Rome. The author assures is that this is necessary for an understanding of the Middle Ages, but after 100 pages of boring narrative, I was ready to give up on the book without ever getting to the Middle Ages.

A complete turn-off for me was the uncritical acceptance of Christianity as a dominant force for all the progress that civilization has made up to the present day. The author completely overlooked the atrocities committed by Christians in the name of Christianity, such as the Crusades, the Inquisition, and centuries of anti-Semitism that ultimately led to the Holocaust. If the author provided a balanced view of the good and bad that Christianity brought to civilization, his scholarship would not be so questionable.

[Peter Goldston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting summary from a vastly different perspective than today's.

Explains things I thought I knew quite well in a new and more comprehensible style. Attitudinally out of style and quite racially biased but inoffensive so. A long but worthwhile read.