Yet more books about the middle ages

[msmcknittington]

Friends:

What does everybody think about Norman F. Cantor? Will he be useful to me in my "Smells Like the Holy Spirit" research, or does he do "Bad Old Days" writing? Any books in particular I should read?

I keep realizing that I know next to nothing about the middle ages, because of things like this. Norman F. Cantor is a very prominent author of medieval history, and I really have no concept of his work. And yet, somehow, I still know more about the middle ages than most people off the street. There's something wrong in that.

_{Yes, I am still intending to work on my novel-y thing, even if it means being very silly indeed in the process. And dedicating NaNoWriMo 2009 to it.}

Comments

[ciorstan.livejournal.com]

::enraged hairball choking noises::

The only thing I can whole-heartedly recommend in his body of work is "The Medieval Reader," which... he edited, he did not write. He suffers from choosing an overly-broad topic for the length of the work contemplated, bad editing and dumbing down for the masses.

That said, when he does get his stride, he is an entertaining writer. And certainly don't trust him for anything he says in the last two books he wrote prior to his death: "In the Wake of the Plague," and "The Last Knight."

Now, changing the subject slightly... William Manchester can DIAF, so to speak. Worst. Medieval. "Scholarly". Author. Evah.

[stringmonkey.livejournal.com]

Can you tell I've got a lot of waiting to do today? Just 'cuz I'm reading six-month-old blog posts.

From my perspective, the best thing Cantor ever wrote was "Inventing the Middle Ages," in which he outlines the biases that underlie a number of professional schools of thought on the medieval period. Not only can it be helpful in interpreting conclusions reached by other writers, but it's delightfully gossipy in places.