I have been reading this book over the last several nights and have really enjoyed it. Not a scholar or an historian, I am simply a person who has an unquenchable thirst for stories about this time period. I liked the chronological format of the book, and I was particularly interested in the growing nature of legality over issues like land transfers, inheritance and marriage. If I could meet the authors I would like to ask them about the process they used to research this book, and if they were able to actually look at some of the original documents they report from. The notes and bibliography are fascinating, and when I next have a chance to visit the U of M's library, I will look up some of the titles. I would like to thank the authors for this wonderful book!

I liked this book and will keep it around, but it does get some
facts wrong. E.g., the book discusses printing & Gutenberg at
some length (as it should) but is all wrong about Gutenberg's
ink chemistry. This is no small point. Gutenberg's books are
famous for their stable, glossy ink. This (Gieses') book says
G's ink was based on carbon black (which fades). Everyone has
known since 1983 or soon after (Google "Gutenberg ink cyclotron")
that Gutenberg created metallic inks. His inks were better than
most which followed. The Gieses should have been aware of this
by 1994, when they published their book. I think this sort of
error is common in survey works, and I think there are other
errors of this sort in the book at hand.

Also, the Gieses take time late in the book to denounce firearms
as the *only* "pernicious" technology developed during the middle
ages. This appears quite witless, since they generally applaud
technological improvements which promoted social leavening, and
firearms meet that test easily ("God made men but Sam Colt made
them equal"). I can easily nominate a more "pernicious" medieval
technology: that of torture. Many are the museums in Europe
which lovingly preserve elaborate machines for inflicting
pain--something which we now regard as forensically worthless and
morally abhorrent.

Reacting to the perception that the medieval period was one of technological stagnation, Frances and Joseph Gies have written a fascinating review of innovation in that period. Starting with a review of ancient technology, the authors then go into innovations made during the so-called Dark ages. After that, the pace quickens, as the authors report on the later Middle Ages, and into the Renaissance.

I was impressed that the authors gave full credit for innovations that migrated from Asia to Europe, even attempting to discover the path that the innovation took. Overall this is an excellent review of medieval technology.

Ok, the Giles may got wrong some detail in this book, but it is a good book anyway. Most of the time we use things wich origin we don't know. Sometimes we think that what we are using is very modern and it actually comes from the middle ages.
This book is a very good book to know how they worked, what kind of machines they used, etc.

At the end of his review, A reader from Seattle writes something about torture. First he should read books like "Those terrible Middle Ages", "The Origins of Spanish Inquisition" and/or search for "the Myth of the Renaissance" on google.

This is an excellent overview of castle life in England from just after the Conquest until decline of the feudal era. It's nicely illustrated with photographs of extant castles and period illustrations. I would definitely recommend this as either a book for the casual reader who might have an interest in medieval social life or a beginning for a more serious study.

The authors try to do a fair assesment of such issues as medieval hygeine (where it is all too easy to overwhelm the readers with descriptions of how dirty and disgusting the medieval life would be to modern sensibilities, thus overlooking that there was concern about unpleasant smells from the privy chamber, and how to fix it). The discussion on the duties associated with the feudal relationship is also very clear and readable. I particularly was interested in the mention at several points that physical blows were used as mnemonic aids. The buffet given a squire upon being knight was no mere tap, but many times a hearty blow meant to make him remember his oath of knightood. Also, beating the bounds was used to teach youngsters where the important landmarks were often by giving them a blow at the site of the landmark, or even bumping them against it. Fascinating look at the medieval ideas about learning-- which does have some effectiveness, epecially in a largely illiterate society, although it would probably be cause for arrest in any state in the US if it was used today.

Libraries have been written on any one of the sujects that was mentioned in this book so don't expect it to hold the one answer to any question about medieval life in a castle, but it can't be beat for a clearly written overview.

Like the Gies' other works, this book gives a view of the day-to-day life of people in the middle ages for the non-technical reader. In this case, the book's about what it was like to live in a medieval castle. As with their other books, some serious historians will find the book to vague, while many casual readers may find the book to provide too much seemingly trivial detail. For me, it was a great light read, full of fun information. It's also a pretty honest little book. No high prose or deep philosophy here --just the facts. So you want to know what it was like to live in a castle, here are the down and dirty facts. Think of it as Castles 101. Great job!

For those interested in a deeper treatment of medieval life, Barbara Tushman's "Through a Distance Mirror" is a really great book.

This book is an excellent start in study the workings of a Castle and how everyday life was in Medieval times. The starts with the Castle arriving in England, and then moves into the various aspects of Castle life, the function of the Lord and Lady, the running of a household, how hunting was not a sport, but a means of survival. It goes into how a knight was made, how the Castle function in warfare and then shows why Castles slowly faded away.

Excellent work for anyone interested in the topic and a must for Historical writers.

This is a fascinatingly outsanding book...if you are a History teacher or a philosopher. I am a parent of a 9th grader in the High School, and my son was required to read this book by the end of the summer. He disliked it very much, because it was basically a textbook - with the different chapters that were all quite monotonous. I know this because I read the book myself, and I found it more interesting than my son found it, most certainly, but it wasn't a good book in the least bit. The only way I would find it interesting would be if I were researching the Medieval times. Enjoy!

This is a compilation of several of the Gies' books: "Life in a Medieval Castle", "Life in a Medieval Village", and "Life in a Medieval City". But it's so much more, making it a must-have even for people who own the other books. I own all of them, and I still was absolutely delighted with this book.

Why? Because of the pictures! The softcover books don't have many pictures, if any at all, but this is LOADED with them, and quite a few are in color. It's absolutely outstanding, the way it is illustrated. Every single page just about is loaded with color photos of paintings, books, castles, portraits, you name it. They are all of excellent quality, though I'd have liked bigger ones, being the greedy person I am.

Extras seem to include a genealogy of the Counts of Champagne and a geographic guide to castles, listing extant ones country-by-country through Europe. There are explanatory notes at the end, a large bibliography, and photography credits. There is also a glossary and an index that looks adequate. This is a huge book, heavy and hard-covered, almost a coffee table book except for its vast wealth of information.

I'd say if you are interested in the Middle Ages, this would make a grand addition to your library -- and if you know someone who likes medieval history, this would make them a fantastic Christmas present.

I highly recommend this book. It is really good and full of historical information on the Medeival times. The subjects are divided by chapters. It is well written.

If you'd like to read a broad slice-of-life account of life in a medieval city, then Life in a Medieval City is a fine place to look. Based on the copyright information, it's clear that this is one of the Joseph and Frances Gies's earlier works, and the style comes off as fresh and exciting. Like the Castle and Village books, various aspects of everyday life are examined topically, with an emphasis on what is common and typical.

The focus in this volume is on the French city of Troyes in 1250. This allows the authors to be particular, and to make life come alive for that time and place. As Troyes was the site of two large annual fairs, drawing merchants from all over Europe, aspects of the fairs are described in regards to the economic life within the city. In some cases, such as in describing medieval doctors, schools, or cathedrals for example, the discussion becomes very general, and not focused on Troyes. This is obviously appropriate. The chapter on books and authors has little emphasis on cities at all, but it still is mostly in keeping with the style and content overall. On the whole, this is probably the Gies's best and liveliest Life in a Medieval (whatever) book that I've read, and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject.

Required to read this for a class, I found the book a great overview of life in a Medievil City. The chapters devoted to various subjects make it a good reference book. The writing style is light yet presents the indepth information.

I have been researching the Middle Ages for a number of years and this is one of the most even -handed books I have come across. The authors are researchers par excellence, and have presented their findings in an imminently readable form. If I were not already a student of the Middle Ages, however, I might have found the wealth of detail somewhat overwhelming and some of the terms and references obscure. This is a book for people who really want to know.

Puts the development of the mounted knight in its correct historical perspective. It is particularly important to realize that the our image of the knight (fully clothed in plate armor) never fought a battle. However, the book is no competition for Barbara Tuckman's A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century. Ever ready to jump on my horse and ride into the melee:

Gies points out that the long bow could fire much faster than the crossbow, but fails to draw any conclusions. The big lessons of Agincourt and Cr‚cy were that mobility is very important. Tuckman's opinion is that from Cr‚cy onward (1346), the mounted knight was in decline.

"...the campaign of the knights was a model of efficiency. Its [the First Crusade's] five armies...arrived in Asia Minor intact and in fighting trim..." She doesn't mention that they also arrived richer and morally uplifted, having looted and hacked their way across Europe.

She describes the battle of Verneuil (p.175) as a "second Agincourt", then fails to elaborate. The first one didn't get much press, either.

Several of the original members of the Order of the Garter (p.177) are described as "Du Guesclin's foes". What does that add?

She whines about Shakespeare apparently parodying the name of the redoubtable English knight, one John Fastlof, described elsewhere as "cruel and vengeful", and whose "scorched earth" exploits she recounts in some detail, by naming his "corpulent and cowardly buffoon" Sir John Falstaff. I don't even know where to begin on this one! Fastlof should be so lucky as to be redeemed by playing with his name. Falstaff is one of the greatest imaginary creations of all time; Fastlof slogged around western France for thirty years or so bent on pillage, terror and murder.

How about some diagrams of these various pieces of armor?

A remarkably cool assessment of barbaric behavior, this. Only five lines from the end of the book does she lose it and say "Knights fought for profit and killed without mercy, robbed
those whom they should have defended, and violated those whom they should have respected."

Since I have an interest in the Middle Ages (900AD-1500AD) I was recommended this book by a history professor, and I wasn't dissapointed. This is an interesting analysis of the Knights in Medieval Society not only of England and France, but Europe in general. Easy to read, analytical and comprehensive this explains the initiation, rituals, valor and hardship that the Knight had to endour everyday. The author(s) have written many outstanding books of the middle ages and this is a welcome addition to the series they have written. A MUST have book for anyone studying the middle ages or the casual reader who picks it up in a store or library.

This book has a unique and interesting premise--a look into the daily lives of 15th century English men and women through their letters. However, the book is too fact-filled about very ordinary people and you may end up finding yourself skipping to the end.

While the book boasts a large cast of interesting characters, the Paston family really comes alive through the Gies' judicious use of the family's own words...three generations of Paston and Paston associates' letters.

It is non-fiction, but through the letters and the context provided by the Gies' extensive research, the book reads like a non-fiction novel. I especially enjoyed Margaret Paston and the wry humor she managed to express in her letters as she played an important part in both family battles and the land battles that were common in her time.

I was also impressed with the small world that medieval England must have been. Chaucer's relatives, a few English kings, Queen Margaret, and Sir John Fastolf (the basis for Shakespeare's Falstaf) all came and went in various roles of importance in the lives of an otherwise everyday middle class family.

This book is so densely packed with miniscule details and examples that the information's significance becomes blurred, if not obsolete. The authors show they are very knowledgable on the subject, but they fail to analyze the information they present. The reader is left to interpret the meaning of details and ponder why they are included. The authors also use repetitive examples that become tiring and ineffective. The only minutely important information is presented in the topic sentences of each paragraph, and the book can be reasonably well understood just by reading the introductory sentences. While this book could be a treasure house for someone researching the relationship between manors and their respective villages, the average reader's attention is never captured. Students, beware! Before embarking on an excruciatingly dull explaination of medieval village life, reconsider your other options of reading material. (One option is another book by these authors that has gotten better reveiws.)

On the positive side, this book contains an enormous quantity of well-documented detail and scholarship. On the negative side, the writing is colorless and, to my eye, devoid of any unifying theme. Even someone seriously interested in the history of the period will find it soporific. Having struggled to the end, I still cannot decide if the juice was worth the squeeze.

The Gies have made a career out of filling a niche in the medieval history market. Life in a Medieval Village gives a very detailed view of everyday medieval life to the casual reader. As a result, they walk a fine line. Some casual readers may find the text to be dry, and to lend too much detail to seemingly trivial matters, while specialist historians may find the work too general and superficial (not scholarly).

I find their work to be engaging, and to provide a fairly good picture of the subject matter. In terms of medieval studies, it's useful to provide a general knowledge base prior to more detailed analysis.

I recommend this book as well as their other works.

Nothing in the book made any sense to me. There was never a point made. It was all stuff that know one really want to learn about. Overall I didn't like the book at all

What a simple title, yet a more simpler book. Very little facts of interest or use, very short and trite, I'd prefer to read the Wives of Henry VIII for the fourth time.

Don't get this book, there are much more worthy ones that account the lives of WOMEN in the middle ages, and if you really are looking for women, the women in this book are truely unknown and did not account to much in the middle ages.

This book is a welcome addition to the medieval history books written by these authors. It profiles several prominent women of medieval times, and in so doing, gives us a glimpse of what life was like for all women back then. Well written, not at all dry. Strongly recommended for anyone with an interest in medieval history and/or women's history. Also check out, by these same authors, "Life in a Medieval Village" and "Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel."