Life in the Middle Ages

by Richard Winston

Here, National Book Award winner Richard Winston explores life in the Middle Ages – from the fifth to the fifteenth centuries, beginning with the fall of the Roman Empire to the dawn of the Renaissance. In both countryside and towns, from peasants to the bourgeoisie to nobility, no aspect of life in this era is left unexplored.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Medieval, Medieval History, Historical, Ebooks

236 pages, Paperback

Published December 9, 2016

About the author

Richard Winston was a celebrated American translator of German literature. He collaborated throughout his career with his wife, Clara.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short but sweet and I especially liked the part about women and brides.

[Andrew Kaplan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much useful information

Contains lots of useful information for the researcher. The material is presented in a easy readable manner. There more words

[Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read simplistic book that deals mainly with France in the last few centuries of the Middle Ages. Each chapter looks at a different segment of society: Nobility, Bourgeoisie, Peasants, Church, Fighting men, etc. Similar to The Middle Ages by Morris Bishop. For a more detailed look at the times, see A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman.

[Trudy Goold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Misleading Title

This was an interesting book, and informative; ordinarily I would have rated it 4 or 5 stars. However, it really should have been titled "French Life in the Middle Ages" , because that's all it discusses. I was looking for a book that talked about the Middle Ages throughout Europe, and that's what the title and summary of this book suggested it did. So a good book for what it is, but the title and summary are misleading.

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting study of life in the middle ages in France. The author takes us through the society of the time from the peasants, the nobility and the clergy. We learn what life was like for each group and for women. In the cities were the tradesmen some of whom achieved wealth and influence. We learn about not only how people lived but what foods were available and what each group ate. Written in a clear way and sprinkled with stories of real people and events, this makes for enjoyable and informative reading. The invention of hospitals and how laws were enforced were facts that I had been unaware of and certainly enlightening. It was amusing to learn that priests at the time were by and large not celibate, but had "housekeepers" who were in reality, wives. And we are told that the peasants were protective of their women when young unattached priests were on the scene.

[Susan Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read about life in Medieval Paris. The book should be named accordingly. The book is divided into chapters about the various classes of people of the time such the nobility, the church, the bourgeoisie, etc.
,

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needed a good editor

The material is great and well presented but there are a LOT of types in this book! Someone needed to edit this manuscript before it was published. The constant typos are very distracting.

[Dale W. Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read but not a lot of detail

This book was quite easy to read. However, it really only covered medieval life in France. It’s OK for the $1.99 that I spent for it on Bookbub, but I wouldn’t spend much more on it.

[Joseph Donigian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average history

When considering a book of this kind of history you never know what you're going to get. It was illuminating but all too overwhelming peachy keen which I don't think the Middle Ages were.

[K B · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy reading -- interesting

[Kes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook is well read.

[Richard Copeland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty basic text which doesn't go into great depth in any areas but is informative. Concerns only life in France.

[Jan Stanton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a great deal about everyday life in the Middle Ages.

[Jeffrey Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Survay

Good social history, focused upon France. Introductory level. No bibliography or suggested readings. Well written with some significant details. Instructive.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This should actually be titled Life in France in the Middle Ages. Overall, interesting read but not what I expected.

[Jim Swike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Returned by Kindle. I learned a lot. A great resource for research and / or term paper. Enjoy!

[Donna Berry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book interesting.

[Miss.terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting.

[Anita Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book

Easy reading, intriguing, well written. It gave me a feel for what it was really like to live in Medieval times.

[Glen Stott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recently I have been interested in the Middle Ages – I’m not sure why. If I were going to write a novel placed in the Middle Ages, this would be my main resource book. But I’m not planning to do that. The title should be, “Life in France During the Middle Ages.” It is only about France.

The book covers history from 500 AD to 1500 AD. It describes each of the economic classes of people from what they wore to how they lived. I was very interested the middle classes and how some people were able to work their way out of the lower class to the middle class. Although the economic opportunities were not great, there were more than I had imagined. The book also covers how major historical events impacted the lives of people in each class.

It was easy to read and packed a great deal of information for the page count.

[James Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, first of all, a very, very readable book. It's not drowned in footnotes or academic doublespeak. It's as if the author were right in the same room just talking about the Middle Ages.

The book is also not drowned in names or dates. It centers on France and covers topics like life in a typical town, the nobility, the Church, the bourgeossie, women and their world and Paris itself. It deals with very average things in people's lives which is another really good point.

Probably the most enjoyable history book I've read yet.

[Ernest Godfrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

France?

Bit misleading I assumed English or European history but this book is unashamedly French. Still worth reading but as the country and events reacted to their own history not as focused as I would have hoped. That aside an interesting insight into all the differing classes of the time.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I felt that this was a worthwhile book to read, and I believe that I learned a lot from reading it. However, I believe that incorrect or misleading information was provided in a few places. Nonetheless, I liked how the book was organized and how the information was presented.

[Loren and Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty quick read. (Paused reading it to start and Finish Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline) I read it on my kindle paperwhite. I found it to be an informative book on the culture of Middle Age Europe from the Prince on down to the middling peasant and the tradesmen in-between.

[RICHARD CLARK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Summary.

A quick read, full of details and appropriate historical quotations and references, without being academic. Made for the arm-chair historian.

[Christopher A Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good time traveler

I've always had a great interest in the middle ages especially the daily life of ordinary people. Only wish it was longer!

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

An illustrative and captivating description of life in the High Middle Ages. You can see the images in your head as he describes the scenery, the environment, and the people.

[delbert armstrong]

Great read

This book is a really good view of the way life may have been back then. It is also a good historical summary.

[Stephen Selbst · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overview of French society in the late medieval period. Because this book aynthesizes from uncited sources, its accuracy is hard to assess.