Easy print to read - a big help!! hehee. A-Z of interesting medieval words, giving all sorts of little details that historical writers just love, though lacking dates of origin of the words.

Also, of interest to people just interested in the period.
A Must for any SCA-er!!!

A wonderful book of medieval words and their meanings. With diagrams and drawings scattered about.

I have found this a very handy book when needing words and their meanings that have fallen into disuse, but much needed by writers of period pieces.

Medieval French writer Christine de Pizan and her work deserve to be better known. THis book is a translation of one of her great works, and shows clearly medieval women were far from being the simpering ninnies or oppressed victims all too many people seem to think they were. With an excellent introduction, written by a scholar, this is a very good addition to any library on the Middle Ages.

In this educating and entertaining book, Madeleine Pelner Cosman takes a new look at women in medieval European history. She points out that women's accomplishments have been overlooked and their status misinterpreted by historians. By taking a new look at the evidence, she is able to demonstrate that women were very active in the society and economy of medieval Europe. This book provides new insight into women's lives. Of particular interest is her explanation of the origins of family names and the evidence that some of these names must have been passed down matrilineally. The only real objection I have to this book is that the title is somewhat misleading. It promises to be about women in medieval Europe, but is, for the most part, about England. There is material about women from other European countries, but the bulk of the material refers to English women.

Lots of information about food preparation and laws in medieval Europe, including modern "adaptations" of medieval recipes. Unfortunately, many of these adaptations are extremely loose, e.g. not showing the original recipe being "adapted", and using ingredients that don't remotely resemble anything available in medieval Europe. Enormous bibliography, but no indication of which source any given recipe or statement came from, so there's no way to check their accuracy.

On the positive side, the book includes many quotations from sumptuary and sanitation laws, which give insight into medieval food practices.

Most of the book is a disucssion of various aspects of food in medieval society. The writing style is light and quick to read while giving a lot of information. Her foot notes and bibliography are EXTENSIVE. The recipes at the end are not the main point ofthe book. Many of them are delicious but they are not what you want if complete authenticity is what you are looking for. If you want a "flavor" of the middle ages, they are fine. Again, the best thing about the book are the references.

My background is in Medieval History. I have always been fascinated with flavours and sounds in addition to kings and social movements. This, of course, led to the discovery of Fabulous Feasts.

Now as to the 100% accuracy of the recipes, I am unable to vouch. I can say, however, that they are all clearly discribed and easy to follow. I have a particular fondness for the arbolyetts and the parsley bread. I have cooked, at one time or another over the past 15 years, about 2/3 of the recipes -- some are definitely acquired tastes and some are pure show-stoppers.

Cosman also does a marvelous job of giving you food lore and manners of the latter half of the Middle Ages. From the salacious to the practical, all sorts of information is here. Her bibliography is helpful for those who want to follow further in her footsteps and her list of where to get the ingredients is good, but a bit dated. WARNING: at least one of the spice stores listed has shut since this book was first released.

This is a book for cooks and amateur historians. It is not a HISTORY book, but rather a cookbook that gets into a bit of history and allows you to sample the tastes of another time and place.