Life and Work in Medieval Europe

by Prosper Boissonnade

Originally published between 1920-70, The History of Civilization was a landmark in early twentieth century publishing. It was published at a formative time within the social sciences, and during a period of decisive historical discovery. The aim of the general editor, C.K. Ogden, was to summarize the most up to date findings and theories of historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and sociologists. This reprinted material is available as a set or in the following
* Prehistory and Historical Ethnography
Set of 12: 0-415-15611-4: £800.00
* Greek Civilization
Set of 7: 0-415-15612-2: £450.00
* Roman Civilization
Set of 6: 0-415-15613-0: £400.00
* Eastern Civilizations
Set of 10: 0-415-15614-9: £650.00
* Judaeo-Christian Civilization
Set of 4: 0-415-15615-7: £250.00
* European Civilization
Set of 11: 0-415-15616-5: £700.00

Genres: History

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1921

Reviews

[Stephen Simpson · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only real value in this work is as a preserved relic of what used to be considered acceptable scholarship. The amount of racism, classicism, and sophistry present would likely surprise a lot of modern readers.

Said differently, if you played a drinking game based on how often “barbaric/barbarism” was used, you could have some liver problems about a third of the way in.

I would also argue that the quality of the work was lacking above and beyond the above issues. The Black Death, which had a massive impact on labor (at a minimum, the “work” part of the title) is given about a page of discussion, and most of that is just recounting mortality statistics.

Other risible statements include the lower classes not caring about the quality of housing, being content with “simple” food, and benefiting from “low cost” clothing. Oh, and apparently Rome was an “equal” society - which would likely have come as a shock to the slaves, lower classes, and women in that society.

In the plus column, the author did go to some lengths to detail just how messed up and exploitative the feudal system was in many places. I also found the discussions of things like land reclamation and road building to be pretty interesting.

There are now far far better works on the subjects this book attempted to cover. It’s useful as a monument to what used to be acceptable scholarship, and there are some interesting points here and there, but it’s a work that deserves to be forgotten into obscurity.

[Kai Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life and work in medieval Europe is well... Life and work in medieval Europe

As far as history books go, I found it pretty interesting. Talks a lot about the economy but also mentions things about society during those times. Although a majority of it is taken up by talk of the economy as well as the development of businesses during those times. Covers a time frame between 5th to 15th century and helps make a clearer image of what it was like back then

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the book is a product of it's time. The way the Germans are mentioned is outright reference to barbarism and being uncivilized. The only excuse I might find acceptable for this is that the author has twice seen the German army march through his country, including once less than a decade prior. Still, I shudder to think if he had discussed Muslims. He seems to switch between saying the rich exploit the poor and saying they're greedy. He tries to hide the fact that he's very partial to France since he's French, and for the most part he does, but it still shows. I suppose this is understandable, especially considering how much American historians buy into American exceptionalism.

My biggest criticism is that the book doesn't really tell a story. It mentions very few specific people, and instead has lots of numbers. It is useful, but I prefer a story to read. It's also very generalized, but it is a thousand years of history on an entire continent in 300 pages.

So, I'd say this is a book to read to see where the historiography of the period was, but to get a more accurate picture, there are better, more recent books.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one is a total waste of time. Simplistic and irritating. Read the Gies' books. They are much better.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Life in the Middle Ages was hard but many advances were being made. It was definately a class society, but someworks of art and engineering were developed during this period.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read, particularly if you're looking to trace the history of the American economy, before the United States was ever born.