# Recommend history books about the Dark Ages **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987 "2006-06-01T05:06:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/1 "2006-06-01T05:06:21Z")
I’m looking for good but not overly dense things to read about the early medieval period, from the fall of the Western Roman bits through to the First Crusade. Late Antique pagans, early Christians, Goths, Germans, Vikings, Byzantines, you name it. Anything about the foundations of Islam would be nice, too. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/2 "2006-06-01T12:55:09Z")
Moved from IMHO to CS. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/3 "2006-06-01T13:34:44Z")
This might fall into the category of “overly dense”, but I found [The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to Christianity](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520218590/sr=8-1/qid=1149168598/ref=sr_1_1/002-6447094-0212036?%5Fencoding=UTF8) to be very illuminating about how and why Christianity continued to spread after Rome fell. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/4 "2006-06-01T14:22:42Z")
Barbara W. Tuchman’s _A Distant Mirror_ is a wonderful overview of the 14th century, incl. lots of good stuff on the Black Death, chivalry and the Hundred Year’s War. Check it out. ---
**Author:** ![beowulf573](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@beowulf573](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulf573)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/5 "2006-06-01T14:48:45Z")
I liked “The Civilization of the Middle Ages” by Norman Cantor. And a second recommendation for Barbara Tuchman’s book. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/6 "2006-06-01T14:55:14Z")
I’m away from my library right now, but “Dark Ages” has fallen out of favor with most scholars. Many prefer “Early Middle Ages”–which you used, as well. “Late Antiquity” covers the late Roman Empire. The western part, that is. The Eastern Empire was “Byzantium” & was never dark during those years. “The Migrations Period” is the more current way of referring to the Barbarian invasions. It’s more accurate & less insulting to the descendants of those barbarians–most Europeans, that is. “How the Irish Saved Civilization” is a look at one part of Europe that wasn’t Dark. Not heavyweight scholarship, but a good introduction. Of course, Islam arose during this period. Moorish Spain was another area that mostly avoided “darkness.” All these “periods” overlapped considerably. Stuff you probably did NOT learn in history class, but quite fascinating. I’ll be back with a few recommendations. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/7 "2006-06-01T14:59:39Z")
From my classroom library: _A History of Private Life: Revelations of the Medieval World_ - Duby, editor _A World Lit Only By Fire_ - Manchester _Medieval Europe: A Short History_ - Holister _Medieval Society_ - Cantor & Werthman ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/8 "2006-06-01T15:05:17Z")
How about _The Medieval Worldview_ William R. Cook and Ronald B. Herzman? It’s a good survey. ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/9 "2006-06-01T15:58:48Z")
Sorry to contradict **silenus** , but avoid Manchester. It’s the most anti-medieval book about the middle ages that I’ve read. Given your paramaters, it sounds like Tuchman wouldn’t work either, although I usually do recommend her book (I’m more of a late medieval guy myself). Southern’s _The Making of the Middle Ages_ is a bit dated but still worth a look. Ditto for Pirenne (esp. _Medieval Cities_–which obviously is a little more limited in scope). Bark’s _The Origins of the Medieval World_ sounds like it might be good match for the criteria in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/10 "2006-06-01T16:00:17Z")
“paramaters,” obviously, referring to a set of tomatoes. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/11 "2006-06-01T16:46:01Z")
I enjoyed Terry Jone’s Midieval Lives quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/12 "2006-06-01T16:59:24Z")
You might like “The Year 1000” by Lacey/Danziger. It’s an easy read - as well as being super cheap used (try [amazon.com](http://amazon.com)). The Doctor ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/13 "2006-06-01T17:17:44Z")
[The Waning of the Middle Ages](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486404439/102-0513171-3656162?v=glance&n=283155) by Johan Huizinga ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/14 "2006-06-01T18:07:57Z")
_The Age of Faith_ by Will Durant, part of his Story of Civilization series. ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/15 "2006-06-01T19:10:02Z")
Not so much history as history of technology, but still very good (short, informative, very readable): _Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages_ by Joseph and Frances Gies. “Straight” history books tend to neglect the material culture, and there were a lot of important technological changes that affected medieval society in myriad ways. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/16 "2006-06-01T20:36:53Z")
As a reference guide, try [The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0670100110/sr=8-1/qid=1149192502/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8917181-3852845?%5Fencoding=UTF8), general editor Norman F. Cantor. Be aware that there are some typos/errors that might be misleading, but no more than in any other encyclopedia. (I swear, those things are edited by rabid monkeys sometimes.) It’s a nice resource when you get confused by all the names and dates that are tossed around. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/17 "2006-06-02T01:26:01Z")
> [@Renob](#): > > _The Age of Faith_ by Will Durant, part of his Story of Civilization series. Second, Durant also spends a lot of time with medieval Islam and Judaism. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2006, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-history-books-about-the-dark-ages/358987/18 "2006-06-02T06:46:39Z")
I loved “Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett. When I finished the book I was almost angry that the story was over. Good stuff.