Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

The Age of Feudalism. By John Davenport. Detroit, Mich.: Lucent Books Thomson Gale, 2008. 1 vol. 104 p. $32.45. ISBN 10: 1-59018-649-4; 13: 978-1-59018-649-7.

Students wishing to study the age of feudalism will begin with a two-page time line, starting in 432 and St. Patrick's trip to Ireland to convert the people there and 1500, the traditional date of the beginning of the European High Renaissance. The introduction includes Rome A.D. 410 and the six chapters continue with "Barbarian Kingdoms," "Charlemagne to Clermont," "The Church Militant," "The Black Death," "The Rise of the Nation-State" and "The End of an Age." Inset boxes such as "Charlemagne's Palace School" add to the text. Students can also compare what they learn about the Plague with what is happening in the present day pandemic, HIV/AIDS. Designed for students in upper elementary and middle school, they will find this helpful for their study and it has some relevance for high school students who have difficulty with reading. The color illustrations will draw them to read the text. A brief bibliography can be found in the Appendix.