The Middle Ages: A Concise Encyclopaedia

Library Journal

Dictionaries and encyclopedias on this era proliferate. This volume aims ``to provide both the beginner and the specialist with a single volume that presents a summary of current thought on the key protagonists, events and themes'' in European history from c.400 to c.1500. The beginner will find about 1000 useful entries, strong on England and France, weak on Spain, Central and Eastern Europe; able on political but weak on social history (e.g., no entry on the family or on marriage). The brief bibliographical entries are very dated, showing scant familiarity with the huge recent American, German, and French scholarship. The illustrations are imaginatively selected but poorly captioned. Serious students should consult the 12-volume Dictionary of the Middle Ages ( LJ 2/1/83) . For others, Joseph Dahmus's Dictionary of Medieval Civilization ( LJ 10/1/84) should suffice.-- Bennett D. Hill, Georgetown Univ., Washington, D.C.