Customer Reviews

Medieval Ireland: The Enduring Tradition

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

 

 

The book is a brief history of medieval Ireland. It covers the times from the prehistoric times to the fifteenth century. However, brief does not mean superficial. The author chooses some subjects he is interested in and discusses them trying to be impartial - from many different points of view. He does not try to describe the past in detail, but rather to point out the most important moments, problems and aspects in Irish history. Richter also poses some questions significant from the point of view of a contemporary person some of which remain open.
The book is suitable for beginners as it is quite short and written in a comprehensible way as well as for people truly interested in the matter thanks to reliable bibliography record and references. It helps to understand the unusual political organization and the complicated and quite uncommon social structure of the Island in the middle ages. Obviously, history of medieval Ireland was greatly determined by the history of church, that is why the book deals mainly with the church's history, which was not less interesting in Ireland than political history. It is a very good book for a great start.

The book is a brief history of medieval Ireland. It covers the times from the prehistoric times to the fifteenth century. However, brief does not mean superficial. The author chooses some subjects he is interested in and discusses them trying to be impartial - from many different points of view. He does not try to describe the past in detail, but rather to point out the most important moments, problems and aspects in Irish history. Richter also poses some questions significant from the point of view of a contemporary person some of which remain open.
The book is suitable for beginners as it is quite short and written in a comprehensible way as well as for people truly interested in the matter thanks to reliable bibliography record and references. It helps to understand the unusual political organization and the complicated and quite uncommon social structure of the Island in the middle ages. Obviously, history of medieval Ireland was greatly determined by the history of church, that is why the book deals mainly with the church's history, which was not less interesting in Ireland than political history. It is a very good book for a great start.

A brief book, Medieval Ireland still manages to cover all that one would expect it to, particularly as it relates to the
influence of and on Christianity by the Irish (certianly a book on the history of Ireland cannot skip Colum Cille, Patrick, and
the traditions that lead to famous illuminated manuscripts like the Book of Kells). I much appreciated the books treatment of
the effect Ireland had on, and the consequences of that influence on, continental Europe, Latin (as a language), and
Christianity (especially monasticism). In the sections covering these topics, the book is a delight to read and tells a
fascinating story.

The political organization sections were a harder, though no less informative, slog. I think this is not necessarily a fault of
the book, though, and is more tied to the (appropriate) use of proper people and place names. The pronunciation guide in the
back of the book on Gaelic words is of little help to 'the layman' picking up this book out of curiosity in Irish history. In
addition, Ireland had a quite complicated political makeup, as evidenced in several of the maps in the book. A few important
families come up constantly, but the sheer volume of major and minor rulers in the island's history certainly keeps the reader
on his toes!

This book is well worth the time for anyone curious about Ireland and its influence on Europe during the Middle Ages. It is
concise and enjoyable.

Excellent, improved on what I knew about Ireland and the outside influences and why they've kept up the fight for so long (courage extrodinare). God Bless their cause of securing freedom from the "strangers."