The period from about 400 to 1400 CE has generally been designated as the medieval period or the Middle Ages. This term came into use after the fourteenth century as the “middle” time period between the classical world and the “modern” one. Attempts to provide a more meaningful classification to this period of time have not been successful, and thus the term has stuck.
Two concepts have galvanized much of the twenty‐first century: the internet with its information explosion, and globalization. The editors of this volume want to make clear that the Eurocentric analysis of medieval life and culture that has dominated most scholarship up to this point needs to move into a global examination of all events, peoples, religions, and societies. This is why three large volumes of scholarship have been assembled to present this fascinating time period in all its global richness and diversity.
Each volume focuses on two or three regions of the world, with seven major essays that deal with the following topics: Historical Overview; Religion; Economy; The Arts; Society; Science and Technology; Global Ties. The Historical Overview section tries to collapse 1,000 years of history for each region into a cohesive, understandable document. The Global Ties section highlights the importance of global community and connections during the Middle Ages, and is perhaps the most unique contribution to scholarship since it endeavours to provide insight on medieval exploration, innovation, global commerce and economy, and merging of cultures. Each of these essays ends with a list of recommended readings.
An alphabetical listing of events, people, and topics follows the seven essays, with cross‐references to other important essays indicated by bold type. At the end of each regional section, a listing of important primary documents is provided, with a short paragraph explaining the importance of each document, as well as a short excerpt from the source. Any appendices at the end list major rulers and/or time periods. At the beginning of each region, a chronology of important events is given, as well as maps of the regions under discussion showing various important cities and/or migrations. At the end of the third volume, an overall index is provided. There are also a few black‐and‐white photographs and pictures interspersed throughout the three volumes, but they are generally small in size and do not overwhelm the reader, since text definitely is given priority in this tome.
As an example of how a section is organized, The Americas in the first volume is indicative of the way that this reference work is arranged. A chronology of events in the Americas from c.30,000 BCE to 1537 is given, along with maps showing the South and Mesoamerica c.900 CE the Rise of the Aztec Empire between 1200‐1500 CE, the Maya States from 300 BCE to 1500 CE and the Inca Empire from 1438 to 1525 CE. The Overview and Topical Essays follow. In the Historical Overview, the Eastern Woodlands and the Great Plains, the American Southwest and the Great Basin, the Pacific Coast, the Arctic and Subarctic, Mesoamerica, Lower Central America and the Andes, and Amazonia and the Caribbean are all provided short essays. The same geographical divisions are used in the essays that follow on Religion, Economy, The Arts, Society, Science and Technology, and Global Ties. Some subdivisions occur under these essays; for instance, the Hohokam (750‐1450) appear under the American Southwest and the Great Basin region, and the Teotihuacanos (100 BCE to 600 CE), the Maya (Classic (250‐909) and Postclassic (909‐1697) Periods), and the Toltecs (950‐1170) and the Aztecs (1345‐1521) appear under the Mesoamerica region. The A‐Z encyclopedic entries follow, with essays on Calakmul, Metallurgy, Nazca Lines, and Tlatoani, to name a few. Each essay has a short Further Reading section for more information. The Primary Documents section follows, with 12 descriptions and short excerpts from primary source materials that have been identified for inclusion by the editor of this section. Some primary sources excerpts include: Leif Erickson's exploration of North America, coming to Vinland (c. CE 1003), Christopher Columbus remarks on the generosity of the Taino people of Hispaniola (December 1492), and Francisco Pizarro's first encounter with the Inca ruler Atahualpa (November 1532). Finally, a short appendix provides a list of Mesoamerican rulers and historical periods.
Greenwood Press also provides online access to this reference work and others in their Daily Life Online service, available at www.dailylife. greenwood.com. This suite of electronic social history products includes the award‐winning Greenwood Encyclopedia of Daily Life through History (Salisbury 2004) (RR 2005/170), as well as access to over 45 other titles in this series (over 15,000 book pages and over 6 million words of content).
As a medievalist, it is difficult to find authoritative reference works on the Middle Ages that don't come across as “just for scholars”, or assume the reader already has a thorough understanding of that time period prior to their examination and perusal of the volume in question. This reference work, written for anyone interested in the Middle Ages (and not just from the Eurocentric perspective, but from a true global perspective), has been thoroughly researched and studied, and could be purchased for a junior high library as well as for an undergraduate research library. I intend to keep my review copy for perusal and reading by my daughter as she gets older, as it is an excellent exploration book for children wanting to know more information on medieval life and culture as an international phenomenon, and the connections between peoples that began during this time period, some of which continue up until the modern day time period.
