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rorookie's review against another edition
1.0
1 uber disappointing, crying in my seat star. ⭐
The picture-perfect retelling of the so-called Arabian siege through the lens of an individual with leanings so close to that of Islamophobic. I aspire to have a fraction of the confidence required to chalk over my own biases to “eurocentric depictions” of history. To explicitly detail the apparent violent takeover led by the Arabs and the Caliphates and then neglect to mention the violence that ensued by countless religions (Christianity’s Crusades, Spanish Reconquista, etc) is hypocritical and purposely obtuse.
Not only that?? But the insinuations of this ENTIRE book is that it is a largely European retelling of history which didn’t happen?? It’s funny because I think my high school essays did a better job of sticking to their theses AND had some semblance of a transition (imagine having good transitions Dan).
It’s disheartening to KNOW that a book could’ve lived up to its potential and just.. didn’t? Implicit messaging is dead and Dan Jones is dancing on its grave
The picture-perfect retelling of the so-called Arabian siege through the lens of an individual with leanings so close to that of Islamophobic. I aspire to have a fraction of the confidence required to chalk over my own biases to “eurocentric depictions” of history. To explicitly detail the apparent violent takeover led by the Arabs and the Caliphates and then neglect to mention the violence that ensued by countless religions (Christianity’s Crusades, Spanish Reconquista, etc) is hypocritical and purposely obtuse.
Not only that?? But the insinuations of this ENTIRE book is that it is a largely European retelling of history which didn’t happen?? It’s funny because I think my high school essays did a better job of sticking to their theses AND had some semblance of a transition (imagine having good transitions Dan).
It’s disheartening to KNOW that a book could’ve lived up to its potential and just.. didn’t? Implicit messaging is dead and Dan Jones is dancing on its grave
sguser23's review against another edition
I think I would try this book as a print format instead of audio. Because it's covering such a large span of time and space, I found that I became lost quite quickly in audio format.
fallhistorywitch's review against another edition
4.0
A thorough history of the middle ages. While I enjoyed reading it, and felt nothing wrong with the information, I liked it more at the beginning. I think it went on for too long, and that some tangents could have been cut out. I felt the chapters could have been broken up to be smaller to make it easier to read.
raelikesbooks's review against another edition
fast-paced
4.0
This was such a good read! Dan Jones does such a good job in breaking Medieval history down and not making it overwhelming. This books covers a huge chuck of history and, I think, does a good job in really showing the social and cultural changes from the Roman Empire to the Renaissance. This book is a big overview though, and I would only really recommend if you want a starting place to learn about the Middle Ages. Since the book is broad there are a lot of things left out and it sometimes skips back and forth when talking about topics so it can sometimes be confusing. The big thing about this book though, is that every chapter made me want to read an entire book dedicated to that topic, change or event in history. I've added so many books to my TBR because of this book, so I count that as a win!