Book Break

Take a Break for a Good Book!

I'm always on the look-out for great books about Medieval History. If you are, too, you've come to the right place. Here at the Medieval History site, there are several places you can turn for more information about good books.

Top Picks

Looking for a "best of" list to get you started in a particular topic? Your Guide has compiled Top Pick Lists for General Histories, books about Knights, Castle books, Daily Life books and more. Lists offer a concise description of each publication to help you decide if you'd like to check it out, and links to a site where you can compare prices for the book at merchants across the web.

Some of these top picks link to mini-reviews with more info, but you might be more satisfied by lengthier...

Book Reviews by Your Guide

Sometimes, one short paragraph just isn't enough to tell you why I recommend a book. So look for some book reviews by your Guide here at the site. Thus far I've reviewed:

Arms & Armor of the Medieval Knight

by David Edge and John Miles Paddock

Daily Life in Medieval Times by Frances and Joseph Gies

Fortune is a River by Roger Masters

Humanists & Reformers: A History of the Renaissance and Reformation by Bard Thompson

The Last Apocalypse by James Reston, Jr.

A Medieval Miscellany by Judith Herrin

Medieval Women by Eileen Power

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King

The Renaissance: A Short History by Paul Johnson

Timeline by Michael Crichton

Uppity Women of Medieval Times by Vicki León

Visitor Recommendations

Head over to our forum and check out our folder on fiction as well as the thread, "Read any good books lately?" You'll get the word on a variety of books from other visitors to this site. You can read forum posts by entering as a guest; or if you'd like to take the time to register, you can post your own book review or comment on any medieval subject. Registration is free.

Online Books

Some etexts can now be found online here at the Medieval History site. Visit our Index of Electronic Texts for public-domain documents from and about the Middle Ages that you can freely read, print, download and distribute. Provided in straightforward HTML, many with hyperlinked footnotes.

If you know what you're looking for, and if what you're looking for was published sometime before 1923, you may be able to find a copy online. (Occasionally later books have been transcribed and put up on the web, but since copyright laws are constantly changing and the length of time after an author's death that a work loses its copyright has been extended, it has become harder and harder to find relatively new works.) Online books can be read online, downloaded, or printed out to be read at your convenience.

Some of the best sources for online books are:

Project Gutenberg
Originated by Michael Hart, Project Gutenberg makes public domain works available in electronic format for downloading or reading on the web. I

The Online Books Page
The Online Books Page is a directory to works on the web. Search the more than 9000 listings or browse by author, title, or subject. A superb starting point.

The Internet Public Library
The IPL has special collections for youths and teens, exhibits on literary subjects, and resources for teachers and librarians.

Reviews on the Web

The sites below have excellent, enlightening reviews of various works relating to medieval studies.

The Medieval Review
Formerly the Bryn Mawr Medieval Review, TMR is an electronic journal. Their erudite reviews of the latest scholarly works in medieval history can be emailed to you. At the above link you'll find subscription information; past reviews are searchable or browsable through the menu.

Byzantine Reviews
This substantial list by Paul Halsall at his Byzantine Studies page links to reviews of works related to Byzantine subjects, both academic and popular.

Reviews by Danny Yee
In addition to Medieval History, Yee has reviews on a variety of subjects, most of them concise and insightful. His small but growing database of reviews is searchable.

 

What do you think?

If you'd like to recommend a title, or if you know of a great site with information concerning medieval books, please post on our forum. And keep an eye on this page for more information about good books!

 

 

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