Medieval History Book Discussion

The information below should help you find the books at your local library or bookstore or to get them online. Links lead to a site where you can compare prices and buy online, unless otherwise noted. Discussion of each book begins on the date indicated, so you'll want to read the book sometime before that.

Everyone is welcome to participate in our regular book discussion; please see this forum post for details.

• May 1
  An Age of Tyrants: Britain and the Britons A.D. 400-600
  by Christopher A. Snyder
  Pennsylvania University Press, 1998
  Paperback, 403 pages; ISBN: 0271017805
  
  
• June 1
  The Consolation of Philosophy
  by Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
  There are several decent editions available, any one of which will serve our purposes:
  
  
  • Translation by P. G. Walsh
    Oxford University Press
    Paperback, 2000 edition, 240 pages; ISBN: 0192838830
    
    
  • Translation by Victor Watts
    Penguin Classics
    Paperback, Reissue edition (2000), 192 pages; ISBN: 0140447806
    
    
  • Translation by H.R. James
    London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, 1897
    Electronic text
    Read online or download from Project Gutenberg
    
    
• June 15
  Beowulf
  by Anonymous
  Several editions for this, as well, including:
  
  • A poetry edition by Seamus Heaney
    Displays the Old English and Heaney's translation side-by-side
    W W Norton & Co Inc
    Paperback, 213 pages; ISBN: 0393320979
    
    
  • New verse translation by R. M. Liuzza
    Broadview Press
    Paperback, 248 pages; ISBN: 1551111896
    
    
  • Early 1900s translation by Francis B. Gummere
    Electronic text
    Read online at About's Classic Literature site
    
    
• July 1
  The Formation of Christendom
  by Judith Herrin
  Princeton University Press, 1987
  Paperback, 544 pages; ISBN: 0691008310
  
  
• August 1
  The Far-Farers: A Journey from Viking Iceland to Crusader Jerusalem
  by Victoria Clark
  Walker & Company, 2003
  Paperback, 459 pages; ISBN: 033390219X
  (The hardcover edition is comparable in price)
  
  
• September 1
  The First Crusade: A New History
  by Thomas Asbridge
  Oxford University Press, 2005
  Paperback, 448 pages; ISBN: 0195189051
  
  
• October 1
  The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century
  by Charles Homer Haskins
  Harvard University Press, 2005
  Paperback, 439 pages; ISBN: 0674760751
  
  
• November 1
  The Empress Matilda: Queen Consort, Queen Mother and Lady of the English
  by Marjorie Chibnall
  Blackwell Publishers, 1991
  Paperback, 227 pages; ISBN: 0631190287
  
  
• December 1
  The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature
  by C. S. Lewis
  Cambridge University Press, 1994
  Paperback, 242 pages; ISBN: 0521477352
  
  
• January 1
  The Name of the Rose
  by Umberto Eco
  Warner Books
  Paperback; ISBN 0446357200
  (A new hardcover edition will be available in September, 2006.)
  
  
• February 1
  Sir Gawain, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo
  translated by J.R.R. Tolkien
  Del Rey Reissue edition (1988)
  Paperback, 224 pages; ISBN 0345277600
  For the useful commentary as well as the excellence of the translation, this specific edition of the poems is advised.
  
  
• March 1
  A History of Illuminated Manuscripts
  by Christopher de Hamel
  Phaidon Press; 2nd edition (1997)
  Paperback, 272 pages; ISBN 0714834521
  
  
• April 1
  The Waning of the Middle Ages
  by Johan Huizinga
  Dover Publications, 1998
  Paperback, 352 pages; ISBN 0486404439
  
  
• May 1
  The Portable Petrarch
  translated by Mark Musa
  Penguin Classics, 2006
  Paperback, 592 pages; ISBN: 0142437840
  (This book is due to be released in July, 2006; pre-ordering is possible at some online merchants.)