Daily Life in the Middle Ages [Paperback]

Paul B. Newman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0786408979 | ISBN-13: 978-0786408979

Although life in the Middle Ages was not as comfortable and safe as it is for most people in industrialized countries today, the term "Dark Ages" is highly misleading. The era was not so primitive and crude as depictions in film and literature would suggest. Even during the worst years of the centuries immediately following the fall of Rome, the legacy of that civilization survived.

This book covers diet, cooking, housing, building, clothing, hygiene, games and other pastimes, fighting and healing in medieval times. The reader will find numerous misperceptions corrected. The book also includes a comprehensive bibliography and a listing of collections of medieval art and artifacts and related sites across the United States and Canada so that readers in North America can see for themselves some of the matters discussed in the book.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Written in a style that is accessible to junior-high-school students and up, this book shows that life during the Middle Ages was neither as dark nor as primitive as novels, movies, or earlier historians have depicted it. In seven long chapters, the author, a lecturer on medieval history, analyzes "Eating and Cooking," "Building and Housing," "Clothing and Dressing," "Cleaning," "Relaxing and Playing," "Fighting," and "Healing." Each of these topics is broken down into its major components, with numerous aspects of daily life treated under each of the headings. "Clothing and Dressing," for instance, starts with a discussion of the sources for reconstructing what people wore, followed by sections on fabrics, clothing, fashions, and accessories. The section on fashions, to take one example, has subsections for tunics and doublets, capes and cloaks, and other items of apparel. Black-and-white drawings and photographs are used throughout. Though the book synthesizes a wealth of material from all over Europe, Newman rarely discusses the differences in daily life in the various countries of Europe, painting a general picture instead.

Daily Life in the Middle Ages is similar to Jeffrey Singman's Daily Life in Chaucer's England (Greenwood, 1995), which also divides the subject into topics such as clothing and accessories, arms and armor, food and drink, and entertainment. However, Singman's book focuses only on life in England, and each chapter is shorter and less detailed. Singman discusses bread in one paragraph, while Newman takes two pages to talk about not only bread but every grain that was used in bread.

Because of its greater detail and modest price, this is an excellent resource for school and public libraries that need accessible secondary sources for students doing papers on the Middle Ages. Even if libraries have Daily Life in Chaucer's England, they will want to add Daily Life in the Middle Ages to their collections. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"A wealth of material...great detail...excellent." --Booklist/RBB

"Very readable...appealing." --Mediaevistik

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 301 pages
• Publisher: McFarland (February 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786408979
• ISBN-13: 978-0786408979
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #215,477 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply superb!, June 21, 2004

By 

J. Fuchs "jax76" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Daily Life in the Middle Ages (Paperback)

Newman's book is divided into seven sections -- Eating and Cooking, Building and Housing, Clothing and Dressing, Cleaning, Relaxing and Playing, Fighting, and Healing. Each chapter is further broken down into convenient and well-organized sub-sections that combine to paint a thoroughly detailed portrait of life at all levels of society throughout Europe. Newman points out how each of his seven areas differed from country to country and in different centuries. The writing style is simple, yet vivid and entirely engaging, bringing the middle ages to life in an easy-to-understand yet detailed way. For example, in the chapter on building and housing Newman discusses what materials were used (and where and why), how they were worked, and what tools were used for each; types of buildings and construction techniques; use of lighting, furniture, decorative elements, etc. The section on food includes what food and drinks people consumed, how food was grown, gathered, stored and served, and differences in class and geographical areas. Almost two pages are devoted to grains alone. Newman explains each element clearly, using photos to illustrate many of the concepts. He dispels common myths about the period and writes convincingly that life was much more advanced and varied than is commonly believed. This is not an academic book (no footnotes or specific source material, although there is a rich bibliography for each chapter generally), but rather a book for the casual researcher, writer or lay person who really wants to understand the middle ages. It is extremely well-written (if poorly proofed), and the only real criticism I can make of the book is the quality of the binding, which makes it hard to read the left-hand pages in the early chapters.

I have been heavily researching the middle ages for a book I am writing and have read numerous books on the subject. This one is by far the most informative and enjoyable.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Read, June 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Daily Life in the Middle Ages (Paperback)

This author has accomplished quite a feat by taking what could be extraordinarily dry material and masterfully crafting a very interesting book. Rarely do you find a scholarly work of this caliber that you can read simply for pleasure. Mr. Newman debunks all of the supposed truisms about the Middle Ages to put the era in its proper perspective in history. This is a marvelous, considered, detailed accounting of what life was really like in those times, and it was not nearly so dreary as you have been told. This thought-provoking book is a must-read. You won't want to put it down.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very nice, July 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Daily Life in the Middle Ages (Paperback)

"Daily Life in the Middle Ages" provides and excellent look at life, food, cleanliness, warfare and other aspects of the period. It is at the same time very accessible to the lay-reader such as me. After reading about the development of armor, the reader will look at "Braveheart" a little differently. The style is informative, but neither dusty nor without humor. Higly recommend.