This book brings to life the history of the civilizations that took shape and laid the foundations for the Europe we know today. Key figures such as Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, and Charlemagne played a major role in establishing Europe’s core territories, while Christianity made an indispensable contribution to building networks of economic, cultural, and political exchange.
Drawing on original materials such as archaeological discoveries, classical texts, architecture, authentic artifacts including treasures and murals, and reconstructions, this book reveals the intricate details of medieval European history. It also examines medieval Europe in a broader context, covering major events of the period, from the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the consolidation of the Byzantine Empire to the end of the Sasanian Persian Empire and the birth of Islam.
National Geographic World History Series
Produced by the National Geographic Society, this ambitious collection of history books represents more than a century of cultivating and accumulating historical and cultural content. It comprises 30 books, carefully created by scholars from leading international universities and multidisciplinary teams. Its 5,000 rare, full-color historical images are treasures from the collections of world-class museums, making the series valuable as a collector’s set. The titles in the series are:
The First Pharaohs; The Egyptian Empire; The End of Ancient Egypt; Mesopotamian Civilization; Kingdoms and Empires of the Near East; The Origins of Greece; Classical Greece; The Fall of Athens; The Empire of Alexander; Rome: From Kingship to Republic; Rome: Conquering the Mediterranean; The End of the Roman Republic; The Rise of the Roman Empire; The Roman Empire: The Golden Age; The Roman Empire: The Fall of Rome; The Glory of Byzantium; Medieval Europe; The Expansion of Islam; Christian Kingdoms and the Crusades; New Routes to the East; The End of the Middle Ages; The Conquest of the Americas; The Renaissance; Turkey, the Russian Empire, and Ming China; Absolute Monarchy; The Age of Exploration; The Enlightenment; The French Revolution and Napoleon; The World in the 19th Century; The World Wars
I particularly enjoyed the book's references to Christianity, which played such an important role in the cultural and political exchanges of the time. Moreover, the historical pictures in the book are so beautiful that I was mesmerized by them. It feels like I have traveled back to the Middle Ages and witnessed the rise and fall of that era.