Europe and the Middle Ages

The third edition of this comprehensive survey of early European history offers comprehensive coverage of fifteen centuries and incorporates the most important topics of recent research. In addition, the book offers extensive material on contemporary civilizations that in many ways parallel that of Europe, especially East Roman, or Byzantine civilization, and the civilization of Islam, as well as later contacts with the civilizations of Central and East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Americas. The book's major themes are those of material civilization, political and social history, and the religious framework of cultural history in terms of both normative and "lived" religion. Its central theme is the creation of a distinctively European culture that took its place--in both creative and coercive ways--among other civilizations of the world.