A history of the Middle Ages

Joseph Dahmus recounts the decline of the Roman Empire, the triumph and ascendancy of Christianity, the turmoil of Western Europe besieged by barbarians and Moslem, the emergence of new nations, the rise and fall of kings and dynasties, the development of the feudal system, the waging of the Crusades, and the founding of guilds, cities and universities. In so doing, he gives the reader a new appreciation of how classical, Christian and barbarian influences mingled with each other, and with other elements, throughout the Middle Ages to form the basis of an emergent Western civilization. And he offers many insights that differ from the generally accepted ones: For instance, when discussing the disruption of the unity of the Mediterranean world in the fifth and sixth centuries A.D., and the prevailing view that this was mainly caused by the barbarian invaders, he argues that these invaders were in fact largely absorbed without destroying that unity, and that the real break between the ancient and medieval worlds came much later, in the seventh and eighth centuries, with the rise of Islam.The book's wide scope is of special pertinence and value. Because of his conviction that the medieval era can itself claim wider boundaries that those traditionally assigned to it, the author is able to trace the continuity of the Middle Ages not only with ancient but also with modern history.