![]() ![]() ![]() The reason is simple: all pre-industrial societies are based on agricultural wealth above all. Medieval political communities based their coherence and their succeeds on the control of land. His approach echoes Marx (who he quotes in the introductory chapter) but probably shouldn't be described as "Marxist", perhaps a more structuralist approach. Wickham is concerned with the way the economic base of society creates a large political superstructure. Despite this, I recommend it for anyone trying to understand the trajectory of the medieval period and what this meant for the population of Europe as well as the legacy for the modern world. Despite being relatively short at 250 odd pages (excluding notes) it is dense and cannot really be described as a popular history of the period. In hindsight Chris Wickham's Medieval Europe was probably not an ideal choice for holiday reading. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |