Paul B. Newman

This book is a perfect resource for anyone seeking information about the middle ages. All topics pertaining to daily life are covered in detail, making a very informative read. The consistent, predictable organization of this book makes it easy to find any information you need quickly. Pictures are used throughout to help illustrated what the author describes. All aspects are covered, including ones that are often overlooks, such as food, cleaning, healing, relaxing, and playing. Even more information can be found in the other books of this series.… (meer)

This was a fabulous work of popular history that I would highly recommend to writers, reenactors, and amateur history nerds. It focused on material culture rather than social history, which means that instead of getting definitions of fealty and courtly love, we get lists of medieval dyes and building materials and descriptions of everything from the wool-manufacturing process to medieval plumbing (yes, there was medieval plumbing).

Newman used a lot of secondary sources to write this book, but he frequently mentions primary sources in the text, so that his assertions feel grounded and verifiable. I did notice one or two errors (in passing he lists squash as a European vegetable!) but largely he inspires confidence through his careful writing and documentation.

This is definitely not "Everything Ever About Daily Life in the Middle Ages." First, Newman focuses on Western Europe between the 11th and 15th centuries. Although he does at least make some references to the rest of Europe and to life before and after the "high" medieval period, and he totally got my thumbs-up for acknowledging that (gasp!) not everyone was Christian in medieval Europe and we might wonder what medieval synagogues were like. Second, Newman also focuses on material culture to the exclusion of everyday work (unless the work is directly related to making things - so nothing much about agriculture, sadly) and social history (gender roles, class distinctions, religion, and many, many other topics).

But if you want pictures of the different joints used to build wooden houses in medieval Europe, or to find out how fashion in women's tunic sleeves changed in the twelfth century, this is the book for you!… (meer)

Travel and Trade in the Middle Ages does an excellent job of filling in the gaps in the reader's understanding of how people and goods moved during this time period. Just the right amount of detail for a general reader or, perhaps, a writer who is trying to get the background details of life to flesh out historical fiction, the book would probably not satisfy a more serious student of medieval travel or commerce because of the lack of footnotes. Even so, for an undergraduate student, it might help bring this time period to life and stimulate more in-depth research on the topoc.… (meer)