Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (500-1300) (2 vols)

Winner of the 2020 Verbruggen prize


This book provides a comprehensive synthesis of scholarship on Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. The goal is to offer an overview of the current state of research and a basic route map for navigating an abundant historiography available in more than 10 different languages. The literature published in English on the medieval history of Eastern Europe?books, chapters, and articles?represents a little more than 11 percent of the historiography. The companion is therefore meant to provide an orientation into the existing literature that may not be available because of linguistic barriers and, in addition, an introductory bibliography in English.



Winner of the 2020 Verbruggen prize, awarded annually by the De Re Militari society for the best book on medieval military history. The awarding committee commented that the book ?has an enormous range, and yet is exceptionally scholarly with a fine grasp of detail. Its title points to a general history of eastern Europe, but it is dominated by military episodes which make it of the highest value to anybody writing about war and warmaking in this very neglected area of Europe.?



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Winner of the 2020 Verbruggen prize, awarded annually by the De Re Militari society for the best book on medieval military history. The awarding committee commented that the book ?has an enormous range, and yet is exceptionally scholarly with a fine grasp of detail. Its title points to a general history of eastern Europe, but it is dominated by military episodes which make it of the highest value to anybody writing about war and warmaking in this very neglected area of Europe.?


"It is an impressive achievement [...] Readers with different goals and backgrounds will undoubtedly approach the individual chapters differently, but most will praise the bibliography in volume 2, which is a good guide to the literature of the field. Further, scholars frustrated by an inability to keep up with new publications will surely welcome these two volumes eagerly.
Summing Up: Recommended''. W.L.Urban, in Choice , 57 (7), 2020.


"This book is a pioneering attempt to offer a companion to the history of Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages between 500 and 1300 [?] The relatively short chapters are masterfully balanced between events of political and ecclesiastical history and the evaluation of sources, material culture, archaeological findings, and written texts (with carefully selected figures and tables) [?] it provides an exciting medieval narrative that presents coherent access to the present state of historical research on this topic. Even for ?native? historians the book offers many novelties, and probably much more for those who read other world languages". László Veszprémy, in Speculum 95/4 (October 2020).

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