Europe After Rome A New Cultural History 500-1000

This is the first single-author study in over fifty years to offer an integrated appraisal of the early Middle Ages as a dynamic and formative period in European history. Written in an attractive and accessible style, it makes extensive use of original sources to introduce early medieval men and women at all levels of society from slave to emperor, allows them to speak directly to the reader. It overturns traditional narratives, offering an entirely fresh approach to this period by rejecting any notion of a dominant, uniform early medieval culture, and arguing that the fundamental characteristic of the early Middle Ages is diversity of experience. This beautifully designed book will appeal to scholars, students and history enthusiasts alike.