This wonderful volume provides a holistic collection of Einhard's writing with a detailed and indepth introduction. Dutton provides a solid historical background for Einhard and the society he lived in. Einhard's works offer a wonderful view of life in the middle ages. His biography of Charlemagne is stylized, yet demonstrates the concerns of state, the expectation of an emperor's subjects, and the role of the courtier in Carolingian Gaul. Einhard second major work, a treatise on the holy martyrs, brings the faith and practice of medieval Christianity to life. All of the works are tied together by Einhard's touching letters. These letters bring the man's character to life. They demonstrate not only the responsibilities of a courtier, land owner, and abbot, but also his love for his family, his faith and the religious crisis he experienced when the two clashed. Every student of medieval history will benifit from reading this book.

I'm a big fan of compilations of primary source material and this is one of the best. Alexander Callander Murray has put together an outstanding collection of sources, translated into English, describing events from the 3rd through the 8th centuries.

These sources are wide-ranging in style and scope, including works from Roman historians such as Ammianus Marcellinus and Orosius, Antique and Early Medieval chronicles, a selection of Saints' Lives, excerpts from Gregory of Tours, and numerous poems, letters, and legislative and legal documents.

This is a great starting point for someone wondering what original source material is available for the period. It also provides the reader with something of a "feel" for how life was conducted in Western Europe during the 5th-7th centuries. I found it excellent for showing me which primary sources I wanted to study further, such as Sidonius, Fredegar and Ammianus. It is also a very good counter to anyone characterizing the early medieval period as a "dark age" - one devoid of any written works.

My two year old daughter has had this book for just over a year and it's still one of her favourites. I think the puppet is supposed to be a finger puppet for the parent so it will be too small for your child to fit their whole hand into. We quickly lost the puppet but the book is great. She's memorized the whole thing and it's one of the few books where she finishes thesentences for me.

We bought Dinosaur Roar! for our kids becuase it was a favorite from the library. The illustrations and concepts are excellent, but this version that I ordered from Amazon is poorly constructed. I wouldn't call it a board book as much as a think card book. The pages were warped when it arrived and the puppet is too small for my 20 lb toddler to get her hand into. I still recommend the book, but see if you can get ahold of a better made older addition. Baring that, definitely pass on the puppet.

This book captured my almost 3 year old at the local library. A hundred or so readings later, he had completely memorized the text, complete with play acting and characterizations of the various opposites presented. The book is beautifully and colorfully illustrated, with a simple rhytmic text pairing opposites (such as ROAR and Squeek, clean and slimy, etc.). Now that its back at the library, he's still reciting it. It fully engages all the senses and imagination of a very young child.