Showing results for "History" in Medieval

In this fresh approach to the history of the Black Death, John Hatcher, a world-renowned scholar of the Middle Ages, recreates everyday life in a mid-14th century rural English village. By focusing on the experiences of ordinary villagers as they lived - and died - during the Black Death (A.D. 1345 - 50), Hatcher vividly places the reader directly into those tumultuous years and describes in fascinating detail the day-to-day existence of people struggling with the tragic effects of the plague.

This may rightly be considered one of the first published sources of the King Arthur legend. The translation by Sebastian Evans of this selection of Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicle of ancient British kings differs in several respects from more popular versions of Arthurian tales published centuries later. Notably absent here are the Round Table of knights, the Holy Grail, Guenevere's affair with Sir Lancelot, and the Lady of the Lake.

In 12th-century Ireland, four rival kings fought ferociously, leaving scorched earth and bloodshed as the Church’s saints tried to intervene. In the end, death and destruction rendered the country unable to defend itself from invaders across the sea. Who were the kings and how did sixty years of desperate wars set in motion the events leading to a divided land? Based on the actual events recorded by monks, this novel tells a compelling story about the most pivotal event in Irish history.

What is it about King Arthur that still holds our attention 1,500 years after he first materialized from the murky depths of history and legend? Named one of America’s best professors by the Princeton Review, Christopher R. Fee transports you through space and time in search of answers. In his...