A highly readable (even if it took me nearly the entirety of February to finish) pop history of Medieval Europe. Useful to read and then use as a jumping-off point for topics that spark your interest.

The most interesting chapters were those discussing monks and merchants. Both highlighted cross-continental webs of power that crossed over the political entities of the time.

The book suffered from a lack of an overall theme or argument to tie it all together. It also gave very little space to discuss Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Scotland or Ireland.

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