Atlas of the Medieval World [Hardcover]

Rosamond McKitterick (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195221583 | ISBN-13: 978-0195221589 | Publication Date: December 9, 2004

Forged in an age of faith and war and tempered by great statesmen, religious leaders and artists, medieval civilizations witnessed remarkable transformations. Far from being a homogeneous world of knights and castles, the era saw a multitude of contrasting and often competing cultures, many of which became the foundation stones for the emergence of modern societies. From the expansion of Islam across the Mediterranean to the appearance of centralized states and Christian monarchies, the Atlas of the Medieval World draws from new archival and archaeological evidence to reveal a period of astonishing cultural vibrancy and political diversity.

Alongside stunning maps covering nearly a millennium of one of the most formative phases in history, hundreds of exquisite pictures of art and architecture accompany expertly written text edited by Rosamond McKitterick, Professor of Early Medieval History at Cambridge University to bring an extraordinary period to life as no reference has before. The Arab invasions of Europe, the empire of Charlemagne, the African kingdoms of Songhai and Mali, the Crusades, the Viking and Mongol invasions, the Delhi sultanate and the T'ang and Ming empires are just a few of the subjects explained in the Atlas of the Medieval World. What's more, cultural and economic trends such as the spread of literacy and the growth of towns receive equal attention alongside the emergence of kingdoms and the march of armies to form a comprehensive history of all major societies outside of the Americas during the Middle Ages.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–This work goes considerably beyond a typical atlas in scope. Political topics predominate in the two- or four-page topical spreads, but economic, social, and cultural subjects are also examined. The volume ranges from Iceland and Greenland to Southeast Asia, concentrating on Europe. Highly detailed maps are abundant; time lines, quotations, tables, color photos of artifacts and buildings, and building plans and other diagrams are also included, along with a significant amount of text. For the most part, the elements of each spread are independent of one another, and the detailed maps and time lines include many more locations and events than those mentioned in the text. Often, multiple time periods are covered in one map, with colors and a variety of cross-hatchings and bold lines describing the realities of each era. Although routes of invasion and campaigns occasionally appear, there are no maps or mention of individual battles. A few inconsistencies in spelling were noted. Readers with some background knowledge are most likely to profit from this volume. Others may be left to wonder, for example, what the significance of the Jain temples and monasteries are on maps of India covering 750-1250 C.E. The volume concludes with a limited glossary and an extensive bibliography. Angus Konstam's Atlas of Medieval Europe (Checkmark, 2000; o.p.) comes close to the level of detail found in the Oxford and surpasses its coverage of military matters, but is limited to Europe.–Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

This exquisite atlas, published in England in 2003 as The Times Medieval World, traces a millennium of historical development ranging from the demise of the Roman Empire to the sixteenth century. Divided into three chronological parts, the volume covers political, religious, and cultural change all over the globe. Editor McKitterick is a leading medieval historian at Cambridge University.

There are close to 100 maps, ranging from photographs and reproductions of medieval maps to contemporary digitally produced maps illustrating migrations, trade routes, paths of marauding armies, ethnic and cultural distributions, and religious affiliations by place. Numerous lavish photographs of places, relics, and works of art are also included. Period quotations by various personages are liberally sprinkled throughout, ranging from King John's "Charter of Liberties for the English," a part of the Magna Carta, to the comments of Benjamin of Tudela, an itinerant, on Italian city-states. Many of the illustrations and maps occupy a full page, making them easy to read and dissect. It is difficult to overstate the elegance of these maps and reproductions, which, in combination with the text, give the atlas a truly extravagant, almost multimedia feel. For example, a portion of the "Towns and Trades in the Early Middle Ages" section depicts a town plan of the medieval commercial center of Dorestad in the upper left corner. Underneath this is a photograph of two Frankish swords, while the entire right-hand page is taken up with a detail photograph of a ninth-century Byzantine silk that had made its way to central Europe. Finally, a quotation from a letter written by Charlemagne to the King of Mercia is centered above the main text.

The progression of time is marked throughout the atlas by a time line running along the bottom of the pages. There are also an index, a glossary of historical terms and names, and a bibliography for each of the three parts of the atlas. Overall, this volume would be a welcome addition to academic, public, and high-school libraries. Michael Tosko
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (December 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195221583
• ISBN-13: 978-0195221589
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #847,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for non-academic readers or beginners to medieval history, November 11, 2006

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Chat au Lait (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Atlas of the Medieval World (Hardcover)

Rosamond McKitterick has done some fantastic research on the early Middle Ages, and that's why I bought this book. However, this is not the kind of book that McKitterick wrote or edited before. Academic readers, especially medievalists, may disappointedly find that this is what they need. Not to say that it is not good: It is beautifully printed and contains lots of illustrations and introductory texts about medieval Europe (a small part on China, India and the Islamic world). Thus it is suitable for non-academic readers to get into medieval history. For academic readers, the illustrations are too many and unnecessary; the texts and atlases are introductory and not detailed enough. They may be useful in undergraduate lectures but not in research.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A useful overview poorly put together and poorly edited, July 26, 2008

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Sergio (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atlas of the Medieval World (Hardcover)

Well, I guess it's helpful as a quick guide, but their is a terrible lack of correlation between the text, the images, and the maps. In many cases, the geographical locations discussed in the text (even in the title of a section) is not indicated on the associated map!

This work appears to be a collection of short pieces on various areas and times, with the associated maps being whatever Oxford University Press (OUP) had laying around for that period. Often, the main focus of the map is unrelated to the main focus of the text. Often, the spelling of a place name in the text differs from that on the map (they may both be correct, but the lack of consistency makes the use of the maps and text together more difficult, and further implies that the maps were not generated to support the text, or vice-versa).

The maps alone may be useful, and the text alone may be useful, but you'll often go crazy trying to find a label on the map showing the area being discussed in the text. For example, the two maps in the section entitled "The Delhi Sultanate and the Vijayanagara India" indicate neither the location of the Delhi Sultinate or that of the Vijayanagara empire.

The captions to images sometimes fail to even identify what the image is (e.g., a work of art with no reference to the artist or period or source).

In one example, the page of text primarily discussing the Swiss Confederation (1300-1500) holds a figure related to Burgundy and a map (facing) of "Burgundy under Charles the Bold". Turn the page, and you find text primarily discussing Burgundy (1300-1500) with a map of "The Swiss Confederation" and a painting showing Burghers of the Swiss Confederation city of Lucerne being sworn in.

On top of all this, there are far more typos that one would expect from OUP. Though many are minor (odd or missing punctuation, single letter misspellings, etc), the frequency indicates sloppy proof-reading.

Bottom line - it appears that OUP rushed this one out; throwing in whatever maps covered the area and time period of the text; a quick proof read; but not much more. Even so, each individual section does contain a good textual overview, and the maps (considered as stand-alone references) can be useful for the purpose for which they were originally drafted.

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine book., June 2, 2010

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T. Hinckley (Putney, VT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Atlas of the Medieval World (Hardcover)

I love it, The book is colorful, comprehensive and covers non-European history, too, in depth. For a fine overview of these historical times, this book is a pleasure to read. Great maps. It is not meant to be a schorlarly tome, but that is its charm.