Product Description

Incorporating the latest developments in the study of the period, a team of leading international scholars provides a fresh and dynamic picture of a period of great transformation in the political, cultural, and economic life of the Italian peninsula, which witnessed the rise of autonomous city states in the north, the creation of a powerful kingdom in the south, and the development of the Italian language as a vehicle for literary expression.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68867 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

About the Author

David Abulafia is Professor of Mediterranean History at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College. He has published widely on the history of the Mediterranean from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries.

Customer Reviews

Excellent history for the armchair scholar
A history of medieval Italy as a whole can be hard to find -- there are numerous histories of the northern city-states, several of the papacy, and even a few of the Norman and Angevin south. Histories of the whole, including Sardinia, are harder to find. This book draws together the major regions of Italy, and discusses language, culture, and the impact of Greeks, Muslims, and Jews on its culture.

I was first impressed by the readability of this book. It is far to easy to find medieval histories that are stuffed with jargon and statistics until the reader's eye glaze over. The essays in this work make their points succinctly and comprehensibly.

My chief regret was that the book was not a bit longer, so that it could better develop some of its essays. The map section at the end might have been better placed at the beginning, where it would be less-likely overlooked.

This book is aimed at a reader with at least passing familiarity with medieval history and Italian history and geography. Various authors comment on their predecessors, discussing how they feel earlier authors erred in their approach to this difficult subject. There's a useful recommended reading section at the end for those interested in pursuing individual topics further.