Book review: The Middle Ages by Johannes Fried (translated by Peter Lewis)

Published by Belknap Press

Johannes Fried’s project is certainly ambitious – condensing 1,000 years of history into a coherent volume is not an easy task. But Fried manages it with aplomb, anchoring each chapter around a key figure from the Middle Ages.

This is a handy device, allowing him to zoom in on specific places and themes, whilst retaining a firm grasp on the bigger picture.

It’s a relatively traditional view of the so-called Dark Ages and compared to some contemporary scholars, Fried’s view of the Medieval period still emphasises a marked contrast between this period and the bookends of Classical Antiquity and the Renaissance.

This is not a book for the armchair philosopher, with complex twists and turns and a quite incredible amount of detail, to enjoy the writing, some prior grounding in history would be useful.

Overall though, encompassing religion, politics, art, literature, social structures and much more besides, the breadth of the book would make it a useful reference for students and amateur scholars.