by Thomas Cahill, 2006

I found this book to be very dissatisfying.  I bought the book with high expectations that it would provide me with insights into various developments in the Middle Ages.  Instead, the author seemed to want to show me what he knows about selected topics.  I seemed to feel less enlightened after reading the book than before I started.

Cahill uses a very conversational tone in his prose but then throws in words from time to time from his large vocabulary that don’t seem to fit very well.  His depictions of various art sites are reminiscent of a tour guide as he goes from one piece of artwork to another.

The book is gorgeously printed with ornamental Old English type and many beautiful illustrations.  It’s too bad that the content doesn’t do justice to the appearance.