Michael Brown’s The Medieval Pilgrim: The Roads to Salvation is a fascinating and highly accessible journey into one of the defining experiences of medieval life. Rather than simply describing famous pilgrimage routes, Brown explores the beliefs, hopes and fears that drove thousands of ordinary people to leave the safety of their homes and travel across […]
Brian Burfield’s Medieval Military Medicine is a fascinating and highly readable exploration of how wounded soldiers were treated during one of the most violent and medically challenging periods in European history. Covering the years from around 1300 to 1550, the book looks at the transition from traditional weapons such as swords, arrows and pikes to […]
Alexandra Sills’ Gladiators in the Greek World is a fascinating and original study that challenges one of the biggest assumptions about the ancient world—that gladiatorial combat was purely a Roman phenomenon. Instead, Sills demonstrates that the Greek-speaking eastern Mediterranean embraced gladiatorial spectacle in its own distinctive way, blending Roman traditions with local customs and creating […]
Alastair Redman’s Somerled, Lord of the Isles is an enjoyable and wide-ranging account of one of medieval Scotland’s most important, yet still surprisingly overlooked, leaders. Somerled emerges as far more than a fierce warrior. He was also a skilled politician, naval commander and kingdom-builder who brought Norse and Gaelic traditions together across the western Highlands […]