The Medieval World Complete Paperback – 24 May 2010

Very comprehensive, covering different topics of medieval life such as religion and travelling but also gives a good overview of the history, with ancestry trees (eg the Plantagenets) without going into too much details about each King and Queen, which is not this books main focus - therein lies this books difference from other table books such as Derek Wilsons The Plantagenets and this makes this book unique. It's beautifully arranged Robert Bartlett has clearly edited this with great attention and care, and the illustrations are perfect quality plus the printing is flawless (or I didn't find the flaws. Perfect table book.The photos attached were taken with my phone so may not fully illustrate how clear the printing is, I tried to select various images not so known, this book is full of those. The text is informative not too detailed, ideal to introduce the Middle Ages. Overall this is a perfect choice to introduce the topic to anyone - they'll be drawn to the pictures and interested in the explanations, and won't be able to put down this book for hours.

This book is copiously illustrated with contemporaneous pictures from the Middle Ages. Unfortunately this was before artists discovered paralax, and some of their drawings look odd.

My first impression was "It's big and has hundreds of colour pictures – wow."It would've been underpriced, even if I had have paid the full cover price.After reading it throughout, I think even more highly of it. Robert Bartlett is a very informative writer, who draws effectively on his well of knowledge. You can see a commonality between this work and his BBC series. It is very neatly divided into important aspects of the Medieval world, covering aspects of religion, kingship, art, everyday life, psychology, christianity vs the outside world, and the end of the middle ages.Very useful as an support book for anyone studying this period; the writer will no doubt throw you some interesting snippets. Also perfect for anyone with an interest in historical architecture, art, or sculpture.Thoroughly recommended. It gets pride of place in my library.6 STARS

Bought this book as part of my history degree. As I have seen quite a few of Robert Bartlett's TV documentaries on the medieval period I was hoping the book would be as good. As an accompaniment to more in-depth reading material it has been invaluable to me. Lots and lots of pictures which I have noted down their location as I hope to visit some of them some day. There is a synopsis for each chapter which gives a broad overview to what we are going to look at. Examples are sex, marriage, devotional practices etc... As a history student I would recommend this book to fellow students and also it is not too heavy to interest anyone who has an amateur interest in the Middle Ages

Top quality bird's-eye view, crammed with engrossing detail. A feast for the eyes with succinct, highly informative text - this is a book to treasure.

Great Book, Great author who’s always worth reading

Very comprehensive.

I thought the paintings inside and photos were amazing. Some items could have perhaps done with more in depth discussion but this book is an excellent introduction to what life and culture was like at the time. I found it really interesting.