Western Europe in the Middle Ages: A Short History

This book is an attempt to give, in the briefest space possible, an interpretation of the rise and fall, the nature and contributions of the medieval civilization. The material chosen is meant to illustrate two topics which the author believes are basic in the study of any civilization. First, civilization is organization and specialization. the ability of people to cooperate and the way in which they cooperate, the division of labor and the means by which this division is arranged, determined the primary characteristics of a civilization. Second, large-scale and long-continued cooperation is possible only if a people possess a common set of ideals and beliefs. For these reasons the author devoted most of his space to a discussion of institutions and religion of the time.