Early Medieval Europe 300-1050: A Guide for Studying and Teaching - Softcover

'This is a wholly original "textbook" that explodes the genre in an enormously fruitful way. By focusing on evidence and interpretations, rather than offering a summary of what we think we know, it opens up for students the excitement of history as a conversation, a puzzle, even a game. The Early Middle Ages is an ideal period for such an exercise, given the relative scarcity of sources and the vibrant state of contemporary scholarship in the field. This is a book that treats students with great respect and offers instructors opportunities for creative pedagogy. Anyone teaching the period should have it on the shelf.'

Adam J. Kosto, Columbia University, USA

'David Rollason’s Early Medieval Europe provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to the sources for early medieval history as well as the historiographical debates occupying scholars right now. This new edition incorporates a wealth of fresh material on Byzantium and the Muslim caliphate, while retaining its unique approach that takes students seriously as active participants in the learning process.'

Scott Bruce, University of Colorado Boulder, USA

Early Medieval Europe 300–1050: A Guide for Studying and Teaching empowers students by providing them with the conceptual and methodological tools to investigate the period. Throughout the book, major research questions and historiographical debates are identified and guidance is given on how to engage with and evaluate key documentary sources as well as artistic and archaeological evidence. The book’s aim is to engender confidence in creative and independent historical thought.

This second edition has been fully revised and expanded and now includes coverage of both Islamic and Byzantine history, surveying and critically examining the often radically different scholarly interpretations relating to them. Also new to this edition is an extensively updated and closely integrated companion website, which has been carefully designed to provide practical guidance to teachers and students, offering a wealth of reference materials and aids to mastering the period, and lighting the way for further exploration of written and non-written sources.

Accessibly written and containing over 70 carefully selected maps and images, Early Medieval Europe 300–1050 is an essential resource for students studying this period for the first time, as well as an invaluable aid to university teachers devising and delivering courses and modules on the period.