This one is not to be missed. For history buffs, as well as those who enjoy a good read, this is a great excursion back in time to when the saloon was a cornerstone of the community. I enjoyed it immensely, laughed out loud more than a few times, and highly recommend it.

Richard Erdoes has done his homework in this homage to an icon of the old west-the saloon. Beginning with the early pubs & inns to the brawling watering holes of the frontier, Erdoes chronicles the decline and fall of a great American institution. The great illustrations alone are worth the price of the book.

This book's attemps at being a novel distract from the weak historical aspect of the book. This book is obviously not written by a scholar, and thus, reads like a newspaper article written by a reporter who did not understand is material fully. I suggest, if you want to learn what the world was like a 1000, read The Oxford History of Medival Europe, a real book of history.

"A.D. 1000" reads like a work of narrative fiction, and it proves quite interesting. The fundamental structure of the book follows the chronology of Gerbert's fascinating rise to the Papacy. Because of Gerbert's unusual opportunities for travel, educational development, and influence in the most powerful courts of Europe, the book provides opportunities to discuss living conditions in the time. But caveat emptor: the author is not sufficiently critical of his sources. Some descriptions are presented as fact even though other seasoned historians have discredited similar claims.

This is a very interesting book, not boring, not stuffy. It gives a good view of the turning of the first Milennium, from a few different angles. Easy to read, hard to put down. If you want to learn about that specific time period without feeling like you're doing boring homework then this is a good book for you!