
A spirited & thought-provoking history of the vast changes that transformed Europe during the 1000-year span of the Middle Ages The millennium between the breakup of the western Roman Empire & the Reformation was a long & hugely transformative period-one not easily chronicled within the scope of a few hundred pages Yet distinguished historian Chris Wickham has taken up the challenge in this landmark book & he succeeds in producing the most riveting account of medieval Europe in a generation Tracking the entire sweep of the Middle Ages across Europe Wickham focuses on important changes century by century including such pivotal crises & moments as the fall of the western Roman Empire Charlemagne's reforms the feudal revolution the challenge of heresy the destruction of the Byzantine Empire the rebuilding of late medieval states & the appalling devastation of the Black Death He provides illuminating vignettes that underscore how shifting social economic & political circumstances affected individual lives & international events Wickham offers both a new conception of Europe's medieval period & a provocative revision of exactly how & why the Middle Ages matter