Atlas of the Medieval World is not bad for a “coffee table book”. Divided into 700-1000 AD, 1000-1300 AD, and 1300-1500 AD sections, with a summary map at the head of each, and with the usual pretty pictures of castles, illuminated manuscripts, etc. The thing I like about it is that it really covers the mediaeval world, not just mediaeval Europe (although, as you might expect, most of the emphasis is on Europe). Thus we get a lot of nice maps of places I’d never heard of: the 8-10th century kingdom of Salendra on Java, the central Asian Ghurid empire, the Aq Qoyunlu empire of Iran, and a nice explanation of the difference between the Almoravids and the Almohads. Although I had heard, of course, of the Ottomans, I had the incorrect idea that they originated in central Asia like other Turkish groups, so I was surprised to see a map showing their original core territory in northwestern Anatolia, from which they spread to conquer most of the Middle East and a good chunk of Europe. Not bad for footstools.

Since I’ve been reading about medieval Russia recently, it was welcome to find a map showing the growth of the principality of Moscow (at the expense of Ryazan and Novgorod) and another map showing the details of the Polish-Lithuanian-Livonian territory. If there’s a flaw, it’s that the book can’t quite make up it’s mind if it’s an atlas or a travelog: too many pretty pictures at the expense of more maps. Some of the textual material that accompanies the maps is useful, however; basic histories, the genealogy of Chingis Khan, and a nice table of medieval exchange rates (how many Castilian marvedi to a Florentine florin). I also note that the New World is missing; the authors explain that the Olmecs, Toltecs, Maya, and so on are in the Ancient History atlas, not the Medieval one. Probably culturally appropriate if not chronologically. I think I’d go as high as four and a half stars with this one. ( )

Well, I guess it's helpful as a quick guide, but their is a terrible lack of correlation between the text, the images, and the maps. In many cases, the geographical locations discussed in the text (even in the title of a section) is not indicated on the associated map!

This work appears to be a collection of short pieces on various areas and times, with the associated maps being whatever Oxford University Press (OUP) had laying around for that period. Often, the main focus of the map is unrelated to the main focus of the text. Often, the spelling of a place name in the text differs from that on the map (they may both be correct, but the lack of consistency makes the use of the maps and text together more difficult, and further implies that the maps were not generated to support the text, or vice-versa).

The maps alone may be useful, and the text alone may be useful, but you'll often go crazy trying to find a label on the map showing the area being discussed in the text. For example, the two maps in the section entitled "The Delhi Sultanate and the Vijayanagara India" indicate neither the location of the Delhi Sultinate nor that of the Vijayanagara empire.

The captions to images sometimes fail to even identify what the image is (e.g., a work of art with no reference to the artist or period or source).

In one example, the page of text primarily discussing the Swiss Confederation (1300-1500) holds a figure related to Burgundy and a map (facing) of "Burgundy under Charles the Bold". Turn the page, and you find text primarily discussing Burgundy (1300-1500) with a map of "The Swiss Confederation" and a painting showing Burghers of the Swiss Confederation city of Lucerne being sworn in.

On top of all this, there are far more typos than one would expect from OUP. Though many are minor (odd or missing punctuation, single letter misspellings, etc), the frequency indicates sloppy proof-reading.

Bottom line - it appears that OUP rushed this one out; throwing in whatever maps covered the area and time period of the text; a quick proof read; but not much more. Even so, each individual section does contain a good textual overview, and the maps (considered as stand-alone references) can be useful for the purpose for which they were originally drafted.

Os. ( )

I enjoyed this book and derrived several hours of pleasure from it. It is arranged by country or area more than by time. You can peruse the culture, architecture, geography of various political entities as they were in Medieval years. It's a useful jumping off point for more serious enquiry. ( )