Customer Reviews

Daily Life in Medieval Times: A Vivid, Detailed Account of Birth, Marriage and Death; Food, Clothing and Housing; Love and Labor in the Middle Ages

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I needed some extra information, I found this book. It was a very detailed account to several things about the middle ages, such as what material was widely used in garments to from where and how certain things, such as the castle, came to england or france. The chapter on the lady of the castle or on daily life in a village was most intriguing. I barely leave it alone, now.

This book presents the three works of Frances & Joseph Gies in one volume and has an added bonus of being beautifully illustrated. The book that I obtained is a reprint of the original work, published by Barnes & Nobel Books for the mass market and is available at a fraction of the cost of the original publishing.

This book combines three works on the life and culture of the time period usually referred to as "medieval". I reference dates in the volume that cover the time post 1000 CE, the book itself claims 12th and 13th centuries CE. Of the material provided in this volume, the references are also only to England for the most part, and those areas that were under English control. It would be safe to say that this book does cover the medieval period of life in England and English held lands.

The books included in this volume are "Life in a Medieval Castle", "Life in a Medieval Village" and "Life in a Medieval City".

Before going any further, I wanted to check the bibliography. The material referenced spans many years, offering some older material for reference, but also fairly recent material. Reading through the bibliography, there are some well known historians, some interesting medieval references and it appears that the material stops shortly before the publication dates of the original books, which is late 80s early 90s. However, the references are good, overall, and add to the material offered in the book. I like the inclusion of material from public works, such as the coroner's rolls, or land grants, and estate books from that time period. It does give some interesting references.

The book itself reads as a textbook. Sorry, but that's the way it comes across. While the jacket of the book touts the authors "keep the romance", to me it read more like a text book. There are quotes from well known poetry and works of the time, and that does add interest. However, much to the detriment of the authors, it can be a bit tedious on the reader who picked this book up for the enjoyment aspect of reading.

The historical events covered are historical in nature. This can be pretty dry, name, date, event type of thing. Again, text book in format. From the cultural aspects covered, there are references to other material from those times, and archeological references which the author uses to support his findings, again, reading more of a text book than weaving a story.

What is nice is the quoted material. Some of this material is not available to the general public, and it is nice to see some of the references, which sometimes are personal accounts of an event, be it historical or personal. Some of it can be boring. But all of it relates to the cultural aspects of medieval life, which is the constant focus of the authors.

The illustrations are stunning. Where the text can be dry, the illustrations wet the appetite for more insight into this time in history. Actually, the illustrations compliment the material, providing a good reason to pick up this book, if for nothing else. Illuminated manuscripts, tapestries, paintings, stained glass and more. All are of the time period showing everything to do with everyday life or some major historical event. Whether a figment of the artists' imagination or an actual depiction of an everyday event, the illustrations are probably more interesting renderings of the culture of the time.

That is not to say that this book does not have any worth. Actually, because of it's well researched material and the authors' approach to this material as text book, it does offer a good source of information for someone who is researching a topic related to medieval life and wants to add some background and cultural aspects to their work. The text is written so that school children in the grades 6 to 12 can understand it, and it is laid out so that it can be referenced either by the table of contents or the very deep index in the back of the book. The material is historically accurate and would provide a good addition to a term paper. There is also a very good glossary in the back of the book which will help you to understand just what some words, antiquated or dated in nature, actually mean. Again, not too long, but it helps.

However, if you were doing a term paper on medieval life alone, I would suggest that you look through the bibliography for other books to augment the material in this book. While it does provide a good overview, none of the topics are gone into in much more than casual depth.

This book is intended as an overview of the material covered. I can see why the publisher would have bound all three books into one, in order to present a good overview for the student, or as a reference. The addition of illustrations was probably a necessity, in order to keep the readers interest in what is a very dry subject matter to begin with, treated as text book reference material.

What it is valuable for is a reference for the researcher, a general overview to augment a students reading, and the illustrations are worth it for a coffee table book in the home of someone like me who has an interest in this sort of material. It has its value, however dry, but it is a beautiful book to leaf through and admire the pictures. And for the price, the re-release is a good value.

Again, I would recommend it for someone focusing on doing a term paper about the time period, and looking for pictures to scan into their report, and some cultural background to beef up the term paper. Not for the casual reader. medievalcrusadesbabe

The book is a broad overview which aims for the mass market audience. While it's okay for someone who wants a general picture of some facets of medieval life, it does not have the kind of detail or specificity necessary for serious research.

-It has some very nice pictures which is always a plus but although there may be attributions for them, the Photography Credits are arranged in such a way as to make tracking the sources down a little cumbersome.

-There are lists of Explanatory Notes and Bibliographical Notes at the end of the book referenced to each chapter and a General Bibliography. The majority of the references are secondary sources but there is a smattering of primary source document citations.

-Chapters are quite short. They give a brief taste of a wide range of topics--perhaps enough to write a Middle School essay but certainly not enough for anyone who is seriously interested in the period.

All in all, it's an okay book to read through if you have a beginning interest in aspects of medieval life in England or France. It can give you ideas for what to investigate further; there is a WIDE range of topics covered but not enough information to give you a solid understanding on any of them. The book was meant to be a scholarly work. The target audience is Joe Average and not the historian so if you're the man on the street who just wants some factoids and a bit of flavor, the book is okay. If you're into medieval history and want something meaty, look elsewhere.

**The book has been reprinted by Barnes and Noble and is available BRAND NEW for $14.98.

Those who know and love the Gies' Life in a Medieval Castle, Life in a Medieval Village, and Life in a Medieval City will be thrilled with this glorious illustrated volume. Every word of the original three books is here, with additional archaeological and historical information and an abundance of color photos and illustrations. I can't imagine a more informative, entertaining or complete book on Medieval Europe. Highly recommended for lovers of medieval times, ages 14 through adult.

I had seen a movie that really made me wonder how far off Hollywood was from what it might really be like to have lived back then. After reading it seemed that this was the book and I'd have to say I think it is the best book on the subject and an excellent book! I found it very interesting to read about daily life that long ago. It tells various stories about how the various classes of citizens lived and what they did. VERY interesting and showed that yes again, Hollywood gets it all wrong!!
And although I truly enjoyed and still do reading this book, there's no way I'd want to ever live like they did and had to, to survive!!!!!!

Highly recommended if you want to read and see what it was like in those times, those incredibly hard "simple times" back then, get a copy too!

This is a compilation of several of the Gies' books: "Life in a Medieval Castle", "Life in a Medieval Village", and "Life in a Medieval City". But it's so much more, making it a must-have even for people who own the other books. I own all of them, and I still was absolutely delighted with this book.

Why? Because of the pictures! The softcover books don't have many pictures, if any at all, but this is LOADED with them, and quite a few are in color. It's absolutely outstanding, the way it is illustrated. Every single page just about is loaded with color photos of paintings, books, castles, portraits, you name it. They are all of excellent quality, though I'd have liked bigger ones, being the greedy person I am.

Extras seem to include a genealogy of the Counts of Champagne and a geographic guide to castles, listing extant ones country-by-country through Europe. There are explanatory notes at the end, a large bibliography, and photography credits. There is also a glossary and an index that looks adequate. This is a huge book, heavy and hard-covered, almost a coffee table book except for its vast wealth of information.

I'd say if you are interested in the Middle Ages, this would make a grand addition to your library -- and if you know someone who likes medieval history, this would make them a fantastic Christmas present.

I found the book to be easily readable and makes a great companion to the other reference books that I have on the Middle Ages.

I highly recommend this book. It is really good and full of historical information on the Medeival times. The subjects are divided by chapters. It is well written.

This book was extremely badly packaged. It arrived partially damaged. The jacket was torn and the front and back covers were partially bent.

This is a fascinatingly outsanding book...if you are a History teacher or a philosopher. I am a parent of a 9th grader in the High School, and my son was required to read this book by the end of the summer. He disliked it very much, because it was basically a textbook - with the different chapters that were all quite monotonous. I know this because I read the book myself, and I found it more interesting than my son found it, most certainly, but it wasn't a good book in the least bit. The only way I would find it interesting would be if I were researching the Medieval times. Enjoy!