# Recommend medieval history books. Actually, any good history book. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2007, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-medieval-history-books-actually-any-good-history-book/388864 "2007-01-21T19:20:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-medieval-history-books-actually-any-good-history-book/388864/21 "2007-01-22T22:47:09Z")
Thank you for all the suggestions. I’ve put a lot of them on my wishlist and will start ordering some. I’m already ordering “A Distant Mirror.” Once again, thanks to all of you. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-medieval-history-books-actually-any-good-history-book/388864/22 "2007-01-23T15:37:12Z")
I think I may pick up a few of these as well. God, I’m already so far behind in my history reading… ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-medieval-history-books-actually-any-good-history-book/388864/23 "2007-01-23T17:10:16Z")
I’m going to add another nomination for _A Distant Mirror_, even though it appears you’re already ordering it. I came into this thread to mention it, and was not particularly surprised that the very first recommendation was for that book. As an alternative, I recommend [Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England, by Juliet Barker](http://www.amazon.com/Agincourt-Henry-Battle-That-England/dp/0316015032/sr=8-1/qid=1169571826/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5129831-1075168?ie=UTF8&s=books). It was released in 2006 so not a lot of people may be aware of it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-medieval-history-books-actually-any-good-history-book/388864/24 "2007-01-23T18:30:16Z")
**Guns, Germs & Steel** ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-medieval-history-books-actually-any-good-history-book/388864/25 "2007-01-23T20:58:07Z")
I’ll second **Hypno-Toad** ’s recommendation of work by Frances and Joseph Gies. I like _Women in the Middle Ages_ and _Marriage and Family in the Middle Ages_. \*The Knight, the Lady, and the Priest \* by Georges Duby is another good book that deals with marriage and private life in medieval France. ---
**Author:** ![Eltanin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Eltanin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eltanin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-medieval-history-books-actually-any-good-history-book/388864/26 "2007-01-23T21:54:59Z")
Don’t forget about Umberto Eco’s _The Name of the Rose_ if you like your historical fiction _historical_ with a heavy dash of semiotics. Another fascinating (and rather short) non-fiction book is Carlo Ginzburg’s _The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller_. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-medieval-history-books-actually-any-good-history-book/388864/27 "2007-01-24T05:29:56Z")
[QUOTE=Eltanin] Don’t forget about Umberto Eco’s _The Name of the Rose_… [/QUOTE] Ooh, another good one. A dense read, but worth the effort. BTW, if you want fictionalized pre-history, _Clan of the Cave Bear_ is good. I think the author did an excellent job of researching the lifestyles of her subjects. Do **not** , under any circumstances, read any of the sequels, unless you find a copy with everything redacted but basket-making. ---
**Author:** ![candide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@candide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/candide)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-medieval-history-books-actually-any-good-history-book/388864/28 "2007-01-24T20:16:12Z")
It was nice to see works by Carlo Ginzburg and Geoffrey Parker already cited. Dr. Parker, who was my advisor, is the finest academic I have ever met and is tremendously gracious and accomodating. I enjoy most everything he has written. Depending upon what period you’re interested in, you might also look at his edited work, _The Thirty Years’ War_. Similar to Ginzburg, I would suggest Natalie Z. Davis’s microhistory, _The Return of Martin Guerre_ which has the added advantage of having been made into a reasonably accurate and enjoyable film. For the military of France after the revolution two works are particularly good: John Lynn, _The Bayonets of the Republic_ and Gunther Rothenburg, _The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon_. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-medieval-history-books-actually-any-good-history-book/388864/29 "2007-01-24T20:42:13Z")
A good history of the French Revolution is Simon Schama’s “Citizens”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-medieval-history-books-actually-any-good-history-book/388864.md?page=1)