The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History

Posted on 25 April 2017 by Colin McEvedy

This is a revised edition of The Penguin Atlas of Medieval History. Read The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History author Colin McEvedy – kino-fada.fr A delightful, irreverent romp through the Dark Ages and medieval history, and if that sounds oxymoronic, all the better to drive home what a gem this little book is Straight to my favorites shelf.To start, since it is billed as an atlas, yes, there are maps, elegant, minimalist and well designed maps see other reviews for a deeper discussion of how the flip book style works well here, what I would note having sampled a few alternative atlases for this era is the refreshing attention to str A delightful, irreverent romp through the Dark Ages and medieval history, and if that sounds oxymoronic, all the better to drive home what a gem this little book is Straight to my favorites shelf.To start, since it is billed as an atlas, yes, there are maps, elegant, minimalist and well designed maps see other reviews for a deeper discussion of how the flip book style works well here, what I would note having sampled a few alternative atlases for this era is the refreshing attention to stripped down design There are competit...The best history book ever A rather extravagant claim I admit, and impossible to substantiate, but this is truly a superb book for anyone with even the slightest interest in history It has two main advantages 1 It covers 1,000 years in barely 100 pages for less than 10 pounds You could read it in an afternoon2 It covers the entire sweep of European and Middle Eastern history together, so that every major event can be seen in its contextThe main body of the book consists of political maps The best history book ever A rather extravagant claim I admit, and impossible to substantiate, but this is truly a superb book for anyone with even the slightest interest in history It has two main advantages 1 It covers 1,000 years in barely 100 pages for less than 10 pounds You could read it in an afternoon2 It covers the entire sweep of European and Middle Eastern history together, so that every major event can be seen in its contextThe main body of the book consists of political maps the same basic map every time showing the medieval world at roughly 30 year intervals Turn the pages fast enough and empires rise and fall like a cartoon show quite a long show in the case of the Byzantine Empire The book also pauses occasionally to show the growth of the major religions, trade and population.But an unexpected bonus comes with the writing McEvedy writes with informal clarity and a deft use of language that makes every paragraph engaging and brings the story to life in...McEvedy s book is one of the best history books around, with the whole sweep of a thousand years shown in maps each presenting the entire area of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East from 362AD to 1478 The writing is light, vibrant and even humorous, with the aim of showing the history of the entire region, rather than individual countries, brilliantly achieved As it dates from the 1960s, some of the ideas have been superseded by later research For example, saying that Britain sli McEvedy s book is one of the bes...I ve been looking for a book on the maps of Europe through the centuries for forever This book was awesome even summarizing the history of change, trade routes, and religion.This is a very fun romp through the Medieval history Colin McEvedy gives interesting information to supplement the many maps that show the rise and fall of kingdoms, empires, and duchies You see th tr...as an overview of forces exerted on broad general borders that change over time, it s terrific and it goes wide, documenting Asian migrations as a major force it s very unlike other historical atlases, thoug...Excellent companion to, e.g., Gibbon, or anything lacking maps.This book does what it s supposed to do It s rather dense, but far from complete I knocked off one star because it does not have a lot to say about Central Asia during the 10th to 13th centuries I would have like a few extra maps, maybe one detailing the Mongols territory and trade goods, another about the Silk Road as it pertained to crossroads civilizations such as Samarkand, Basra, Herat, etc., and maybe one about the outbreaks of anti Semitism that started in the late 1300s That said, t This book does what it s supposed to do It s rather dense, but far from complete I knocked off one star because it does not have a lot to say about Central Asia during the 10th to 13th centuries I would have like a few extra maps, maybe one detailing the Mongols territory and trade goods, another about the Silk Road as it pertained to crossroads civilizations such as Samarkand, Basra, Herat, etc., and maybe one about the outbreaks of anti Semitism that started in the late 1300s That said, this book does have many maps detailing the spread of Islam in the 7th through 9th centuries I imagine that a future edition will probably include something along these lines.Other than that, this book covers A LOT It helped me figure out the movement of the Slavs, who kept encroaching south and wes...If you promise not to tell Goodreads, I ll tell you a secret I don t own the New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History I own the old one Anyway, I love historical atlases, and flipping through this book you can watch kingdoms and empires rise, grow, shrink, and fall in pleasantly dynamic fashion, and in context with other groups doing the same thing, some of which are obscure to me Without this book would I have known anything about the Patzinaks, who drove a wedge between the Khazars and the Vo If you promise not to tell Goodreads, I ll tell you a secret I don t own the New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History I own the ...I bought this primarily as a reference work, but I found the short descriptions accompanying each map to be so enjoyable that I ended up reading the book from beginning to end It s short, and serves as a very good overview of European history from the reign of Julian in the fourth century to the Voyages of Discovery in the fifteenth One of the merits of McEvedy s writing is that he does not take prior knowledge of the subject matter for granted, so newcomers t...

25 April 2017

Colin McEvedy