The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)
"The beauty and levity that Perry and Gabriele have captured in this book are what I think will help it to become a standard text for general audiences for years to come....The Bright Ages is a rare thing—a nuanced historical work that almost anyone can enjoy reading."—Slate
"Incandescent and ultimately intoxicating." —The Boston Globe
A lively and magisterial popular history that refutes common misperceptions of the European Middle Ages, showing the beauty and communion that flourished alongside the dark brutality—a brilliant reflection of humanity itself.
The word "medieval" conjures images of the "Dark Ages"—centuries of ignorance, superstition, stasis, savagery, and poor hygiene. But the myth of darkness obscures the truth; this was a remarkable period in human history. The Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its complexity and fundamental humanity, bringing to light both its beauty and its horrors.
The Bright Ages takes us through ten centuries and crisscrosses Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa, revisiting familiar people and events with new light cast upon them. We look with fresh eyes on the Fall of Rome, Charlemagne, the Vikings, the Crusades, and the Black Death, but also to the multi-religious experience of Iberia, the rise of Byzantium, and the genius of Hildegard and the power of queens. We begin under a blanket of golden stars constructed by an empress with Germanic, Roman, Spanish, Byzantine, and Christian bloodlines and end nearly 1,000 years later with the poet Dante—inspired by that same twinkling celestial canopy—writing an epic saga of heaven and hell that endures as a masterpiece of literature today.
The Bright Ages reminds us just how permeable our manmade borders have always been and of what possible worlds the past has always made available to us. The Middle Ages may have been a world "lit only by fire" but it was one whose torches illuminated the magnificent rose windows of cathedrals, even as they stoked the pyres of accused heretics.
The Bright Ages contains an 8-page color insert.
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
Matthew Gabriele. (2021). The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe. HarperCollins.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Matthew Gabriele. 2021. The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe. HarperCollins.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Matthew Gabriele, The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe. HarperCollins, 2021.
MLA Citation (style guide)Matthew Gabriele. The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe. HarperCollins, 2021.
| Library | Owned | Available |
|---|---|---|
| Shared Digital Collection | 4 | 3 |
OverDrive Product Record
- images
- cover:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0293-1/{5BB69150-222A-4130-94F9-2E79F12D8FD7}IMG100.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- thumbnail:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0293-1/{5BB69150-222A-4130-94F9-2E79F12D8FD7}IMG200.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- cover150Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0293-1/{5BB69150-222A-4130-94F9-2E79F12D8FD7}IMG150.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- cover300Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0293-1/{5BB69150-222A-4130-94F9-2E79F12D8FD7}IMG400.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- cover:
- formats
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780062980915
- name: Adobe EPUB eBook
- id: ebook-epub-adobe
- identifiers:
- identifiers:
- type: ASIN
- value: B08Y913GY3
- name: Kindle Book
- id: ebook-kindle
- identifiers:
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780062980915
- name: OverDrive Read
- id: ebook-overdrive
- identifiers:
- mediaType
- eBook
- primaryCreator
- role: Author
- name: Matthew Gabriele
- title
- The Bright Ages
- dateAdded
- 2021-12-04T00:08:04.84Z
- contentDetails
- href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=6103354
- type: text/html
- account:
- name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
- id: 1151
- sortTitle
- Bright Ages A New History of Medieval Europe
- crossRefId
- 6103354
- subtitle
- A New History of Medieval Europe
- id
- 5BB69150-222A-4130-94F9-2E79F12D8FD7
- starRating
- 3.6
OverDrive MetaData
- isPublicDomain
- False
- formats
- fileName: TheBrightAges_9780062980915_6103354
- partCount: 0
- fileSize: 33765053
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780062980915
- rights:
- type: Copying
- value: 0
- type: Printing
- value: 0
- type: Lending
- value: 0
- type: ReadAloud
- value: 1
- type: ExpirationRights
- value: 0
- name: Adobe EPUB eBook
- isReadAlong: False
- id: ebook-epub-adobe
- onSaleDate: 12/7/2021
- samples:
- source: From the book
- formatType: ebook-overdrive
- url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=5bb69150-222a-4130-94f9-2e79f12d8fd7&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
- fileName: TheBrightAges_6103354
- partCount: 0
- fileSize: 0
- identifiers:
- type: ASIN
- value: B08Y913GY3
- name: Kindle Book
- isReadAlong: False
- id: ebook-kindle
- onSaleDate: 12/7/2021
- samples:
- source: From the book
- formatType: ebook-overdrive
- url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=5bb69150-222a-4130-94f9-2e79f12d8fd7&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
- fileName: TheBrightAges_9780062980915_6103354
- partCount: 0
- fileSize: 0
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780062980915
- name: OverDrive Read
- isReadAlong: False
- id: ebook-overdrive
- onSaleDate: 12/7/2021
- samples:
- source: From the book
- formatType: ebook-overdrive
- url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=5bb69150-222a-4130-94f9-2e79f12d8fd7&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
- creators
- role: Author
- fileAs: Gabriele, Matthew
- bioText:
Matthew Gabriele is a professor of medieval studies at Virginia Tech, and the author of the book An Empire of Memory: The Legend of Charlemagne, the Franks, and Jerusalem before the First Crusade. Gabriele has articles on medieval Europe and the memory of the Middle Ages, and has edited several academic volumes. His public writing has appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, and interviews with him have aired locally, nationally, and internationally. He is the co-author, together with David M. Perry, of The Bright Ages and Oathbreakers.
- name: Matthew Gabriele
- role: Author
- fileAs: Perry, David M.
- bioText:
David Perry is a journalist, medieval historian, and Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in the history department at the University of Minnesota. He was formerly a professor of history at Dominican University. Perry is the author of Sacred Plunder: Venice and the Aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, and his writing on history, disability, politics, parenting, and other topics has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Nation, the Atlantic, and CNN.com, among others. He is the co-author, together with Matthew Gabriele, of The Bright Ages and Oathbreakers.
- name: David M. Perry
- imprint
- Harper Audio
- publishDate
- 2021-12-07T00:00:00-05:00
- isOwnedByCollections
- True
- title
- The Bright Ages
- fullDescription
"The beauty and levity that Perry and Gabriele have captured in this book are what I think will help it to become a standard text for general audiences for years to come....The Bright Ages is a rare thing—a nuanced historical work that almost anyone can enjoy reading."—Slate
"Incandescent and ultimately intoxicating." —The Boston Globe
A lively and magisterial popular history that refutes common misperceptions of the European Middle Ages, showing the beauty and communion that flourished alongside the dark brutality—a brilliant reflection of humanity itself.
The word "medieval" conjures images of the "Dark Ages"—centuries of ignorance, superstition, stasis, savagery, and poor hygiene. But the myth of darkness obscures the truth; this was a remarkable period in human history. The Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its complexity and fundamental humanity, bringing to light both its beauty and its horrors.
The Bright Ages takes us through ten centuries and crisscrosses Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa, revisiting familiar people and events with new light cast upon them. We look with fresh eyes on the Fall of Rome, Charlemagne, the Vikings, the Crusades, and the Black Death, but also to the multi-religious experience of Iberia, the rise of Byzantium, and the genius of Hildegard and the power of queens. We begin under a blanket of golden stars constructed by an empress with Germanic, Roman, Spanish, Byzantine, and Christian bloodlines and end nearly 1,000 years later with the poet Dante—inspired by that same twinkling celestial canopy—writing an epic saga of heaven and hell that endures as a masterpiece of literature today.
The Bright Ages reminds us just how permeable our manmade borders have always been and of what possible worlds the past has always made available to us. The Middle Ages may have been a world "lit only by fire" but it was one whose torches illuminated the magnificent rose windows of cathedrals, even as they stoked the pyres of accused heretics.
The Bright Ages contains an 8-page color insert.
- reviews
- premium: False
- source: Slate
- content:
"While all of this is the sort of stuff that professional medievalists love to see, the thing I like most about Perry and Gabriele's effort is that it is fun. The Bright Ages is written in such an engaging and light manner that it is easy to race through. I found myself at the end of chapters faster than I wanted to be, completely drawn in by the narrative. You can tell how much the authors love the subject matter, and that they had a great time choosing stories to share and evidence to consider." — Slate
"Incandescent and ultimately intoxicating, for as the chapters progress, it dawns on the reader that those who lived in this period were more conventional than cardboard figures. . . . They were, in essence, human." — Boston Globe
"This revisionist history of medieval Europe takes apart the myth of a savage, primitive period . . . with passion and verve, [Gabriele and Perry challenge] the reader to tackle assumptions, bias and prejudices about the past to create a more joined-up, inclusive picture of the thousand years that followed the sack of Rome." — Peter Frankopan, The Guardian
"The Bright Ages is a necessary book. It does the hard work of introducing audiences to a world that we too often overlook for expressly political reasons. It is also a joyful work. The medieval period, Perry and Gabriele argue, has good news for us. The world can be beautiful without centralized and brutal imperial power." — Los Angeles Review of Books
"....a magic carpet ride around all manner of medieval places and moments....Perry and Gabriele are particularly keen to wrestle the Middle Ages from the clutches of white supremacists and other dangerous forces that yearn for a full return to a simplified version of the period. And so the authors present the doings of clever and durable women, too often overlooked among the churning dynasties of the early Middle Ages." — Irish Examiner
"The Bright Ages shines a light on an age too often obscured by myth, legend, and fairy tales. Traveling easily through a thousand years of history, The Bright Ages reminds us society never collapsed when the Roman Empire fell, nor did the modern world wake civilization from a thousand-year hibernation. Gabriele and Perry show the medieval world was neither a romantic wonderland nor a deplorable dungeon, but instead a real world full of real people with hopes, dreams, and fears making the most of their time on earth." — Mike Duncan, author of Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution and The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic
"This book is perfect for people who are interested in the period but don't know where to start. Because the scale is sweeping but so well organized. . . . Most importantly, it's really entertaining, so. I recommend." — Brandon Taylor, author of Real Life and Filthy Animals
"A lively, searing, and transformative reimagining of the medieval world, The Bright Ages is brilliant in every way, both lucid in its arguments and sparkling in its prose. A gripping and compulsive read." — Bruce Holsinger, author of A Burnable Book and The Gifted School
"In this engaging new history of the Medieval period Gabriele and Perry achieve a feat: they have written something eminently readable, suffused with academic rigor, and ethically responsible." — Candida Moss, author of The Myth of Persecution
"Historians Gabriele and Perry argue in this accessible revisionist history that the...
- premium: True
- source:
- content:
July 1, 2021
"Medieval Europe"--the very phrase conjures up images of gloom, superstition, and brutal warfare. Gabriele, a professor of medieval studies and chair of the Department of Religion & Culture at Virginia Tech, joins forces with freelancer Perry to deliver a popular history revealing a more complex world, characterized by greater intercultural linking than we have imagined and progress in the arts--think of those rose windows, composer Guillaume de Machaut, and Dante. Focusing on Europe but with excursions to Africa and Asia; with a 50,000-copy first printing.
Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
- premium: True
- source:
- content:
September 27, 2021
Historians Gabriele (An Empire of Memory) and Perry (Sacred Plunder) argue in this accessible revisionist history that the so-called Dark Ages was actually a period of innovation that helped pave the way for the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Highlighting architectural, artistic, literary, and theological breakthroughs, the authors analyze Dante’s Divine Comedy and shed light on the creation of Empress Galla Placida’s mausoleum in Italy, the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (now Istanbul), and the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, among other achievements. Occasional references to 21st-century pop culture, including the musical Hamilton, keep the tone light as Gabriele and Perry chronicle the devastating toll plagues took on the Middle Ages; analyze Emperor Charlemagne’s uniting of Roman, Christian, and Israelite traditions; and counter the misconceptions about the Crusades that have been propagated by modern-day white supremacists and Islamic fundamentalists. Though the authors somewhat understate the brutality and religious persecution of the era, they add nuance and complexity to popular conceptions of the Dark Ages and make clear that beauty and achievement existed among the horrors. This is a worthy introduction to an oft-misunderstood period in world history.
- premium: True
- source:
- content:
October 15, 2021
The latest popular history of Europe from about 400 to 1400 C.E. Nothing upsets current scholars of the Middle Ages more than calling it "the dark ages." Gabriele, professor of medieval studies at Virginia Tech, and Perry, former professor of medieval history at Dominican University, make a lively case that it was no such thing. Traditionally, medieval histories begin in 476, when the military leader Odoacer deposed the last Western Roman emperor, but this was a non-event. Deposing emperors had been routine for centuries; the only difference was that Odoacer didn't take the title for himself. Complicating matters further, a Roman empire ruled from Constantinople continued for another millennium. At the time, it was not called "Byzantine." The authors proceed with a vivid description of centuries of quarrelsome jockeying as Franks, Lombards, Goths, Saxons, and countless other groups sorted themselves out until the light seemed to dawn with Charlemagne (ruled 800-814), who united much of Europe and considered himself the successor to Constantine and Augustus. His realm dissolved after his death, followed by more centuries of "large chunks of western Europe now divided into fragmenting segments fraught with low-grade but constant strife." By the beginning of the second millennium, the earliest modern European states appeared with ambitious leaders who led armies across the continent, prospered in a 12th-century "renaissance," and then suffered from invasions and plagues. Matters settled down in the 15th century with the capital-R Renaissance seemingly heralding the modern world. Although traditional politics-and-great-men history makes an appearance, the authors keep current by including a surprising number of great women and emphasizing their disapproval of racism, sexism, and slavery. The result is an appealing account of a millennium packed with culture, beauty, science, learning, and the rise and fall of empires. A fine single-volume overview of an age that was definitely not dark.COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
- premium: True
- source:
- content:
November 1, 2021
Noted medieval historians Gabriele and Perry provide an engaging overview of a complex, yet often oversimplified era. Beginning with an examination of the life of Roman empress Galla Placidia, Gabriele and Perry center individuals and perspectives of the so-called Dark Ages that are typically left unexamined, namely women, people of color, and Indigenous Americans, who are all given space in the counternarratives produced in this ""new history."" In addition to offering in-depth historical analysis, the authors also situate their subjects within modern frameworks, calling for increased scrutiny of the adoption of medieval symbols by white supremacists, as well as recognition that using "medieval" as a synonym for "regressive" is pure misnomer. Though it may be of interest primarily to those already invested in reading about medieval history, The Bright Ages offers a refreshingly critical look at an era burdened with misconceptions and it's sure to become a new standard for those seeking a comprehensive and inclusive review of medieval times.COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
- popularity
- 1570
- links
- self:
- href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/5bb69150-222a-4130-94f9-2e79f12d8fd7/metadata
- type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
- self:
- id
- 5bb69150-222a-4130-94f9-2e79f12d8fd7
- starRating
- 3.5
- images
- cover:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0293-1/{5BB69150-222A-4130-94F9-2E79F12D8FD7}IMG100.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- thumbnail:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0293-1/{5BB69150-222A-4130-94F9-2E79F12D8FD7}IMG200.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- cover150Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0293-1/{5BB69150-222A-4130-94F9-2E79F12D8FD7}IMG150.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- cover300Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0293-1/{5BB69150-222A-4130-94F9-2E79F12D8FD7}IMG400.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- cover:
- isPublicPerformanceAllowed
- False
- languages
- code: en
- name: English
- subjects
- value: History
- value: Philosophy
- value: Nonfiction
- publishDateText
- 12/07/2021
- otherFormatIdentifiers
- type: ISBN
- value: 9780062980908
- mediaType
- eBook
- shortDescription
"The beauty and levity that Perry and Gabriele have captured in this book are what I think will help it to become a standard text for general audiences for years to come....The Bright Ages is a rare thing—a nuanced historical work that almost anyone can enjoy reading."—Slate
"Incandescent and ultimately intoxicating." —The Boston Globe
A lively and magisterial popular history that refutes common misperceptions of the European Middle Ages, showing the beauty and communion that flourished alongside the dark brutality—a brilliant reflection of humanity itself.
The word "medieval" conjures images of the "Dark Ages"—centuries of ignorance, superstition, stasis, savagery, and poor hygiene. But the myth of darkness obscures the truth; this was a remarkable period in human history. The Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its...
- sortTitle
- Bright Ages A New History of Medieval Europe
- crossRefId
- 6103354
- subtitle
- A New History of Medieval Europe
- publisher
- HarperCollins
- bisacCodes
- code: HIS037010
- description: HISTORY / Europe / Medieval
- code: HIS054000
- description: History / Social History
- code: PHI012000
- description: Philosophy / History & Surveys / Medieval
