Forged in an age of faith and war and tempered by great statesmen, religious leaders and artists, medieval civilizations witnessed remarkable transformations. Far from being a homogeneous world of knights and castles, the era saw a multitude of contrasting and often competing cultures, many of which became the foundation stones for the emergence of modern societies. From the expansion of Islam across the Mediterranean to the appearance of centralized states and Christian monarchies, the Atlas of the Medieval World draws from new archival and archaeological evidence to reveal a period of astonishing cultural vibrancy and political diversity. Alongside stunning maps covering nearly a millennium of one of the most formative phases in history, hundreds of exquisite pictures of art and architecture accompany expertly written text edited by Rosamond McKitterick, Professor of Early Medieval History at Cambridge University to bring an extraordinary period to life as no reference has before. The Arab invasions of Europe, the empire of Charlemagne, the African kingdoms of Songhai and Mali, the Crusades, the Viking and Mongol invasions, the Delhi sultanate and the T'ang and Ming empires are just a few of the subjects explained in the Atlas of the Medieval World . What's more, cultural and economic trends such as the spread of literacy and the growth of towns receive equal attention alongside the emergence of kingdoms and the march of armies to form a comprehensive history of all major societies outside of the Americas during the Middle Ages. Grade 9 Up–This work goes considerably beyond a typical atlas in scope. Political topics predominate in the two- or four-page topical spreads, but economic, social, and cultural subjects are also examined. The volume ranges from Iceland and Greenland to Southeast Asia, concentrating on Europe. Highly detailed maps are abundant; time lines, quotations, tables, color photos of artifacts and buildings, and building plans and other diagrams are also included, along with a significant amount of text. For the most part, the elements of each spread are independent of one another, and the detailed maps and time lines include many more locations and events than those mentioned in the text. Often, multiple time periods are covered in one map, with colors and a variety of cross-hatchings and bold lines describing the realities of each era. Although routes of invasion and campaigns occasionally appear, there are no maps or mention of individual battles. A few inconsistencies in spelling were noted. Readers with some background knowledge are most likely to profit from this volume. Others may be left to wonder, for example, what the significance of the Jain temples and monasteries are on maps of India covering 750-1250 C.E. The volume concludes with a limited glossary and an extensive bibliography. Angus Konstam's Atlas of Medieval Europe (Checkmark, 2000; o.p.) comes close to the level of detail found in the Oxford and surpasses its coverage of military matters, but is limited to Europe. –Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. This exquisite atlas, published in England in 2003 as The Times Medieval World , traces a millennium of historical development ranging from the demise of the Roman Empire to the sixteenth century. Divided into three chronological parts, the volume covers political, religious, and cultural change all over the globe. Editor McKitterick is a leading medieval historian at Cambridge University. There are close to 100 maps, ranging from photographs and reproductions of medieval maps to contemporary digitally produced maps illustrating migrations, trade routes, paths of marauding armies, ethnic and cultural distributions, and religious affiliations by place. Numerous lavish photographs of places, relics, and works of art are also included. Period quotations by various personages are liberally sprinkled throughout, ranging from King John's "Charter of Liberties for the English," a part of the Magna Carta , to the comments of Benjamin of Tudela, an itinerant, on Italian city-states. Many of the illustrations and maps occupy a full page, making them easy to read and dissect. It is difficult to overstate the elegance of these maps and reproductions, which, in combination with the text, give the atlas a truly extravagant, almost multimedia feel. For example, a portion of the "Towns and Trades in the Early Middle Ages" section depicts a town plan of the medieval commercial center of Dorestad in the upper left corner. Underneath this is a photograph of two Frankish swords, while the entire right-hand page is taken up with a detail photograph of a ninth-century Byzantine silk that had made its way to central Europe. Finally, a quotation from a letter written by Charlemagne to the King of Mercia is centered above the main text. The progression of time is mar