tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19833734.post116024052535083276..comments2024-02-22T19:21:40.330-05:00Comments on Muhlberger's World History: Chris Wickham's Framing the Early Middle AgesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19833734.post-40357490012319552532008-04-11T21:54:00.000-04:002008-04-11T21:54:00.000-04:00Just saw the TITLE of this book in an old issue of...Just saw the TITLE of this book in an old issue of the London Review (I read slow okay!) and was hooked - not to the $175 mark, but to Google it and maybe suggest to NYPL that they ask around and borrow me a copy. The Med in those particular centuries should be madly busy, as the unification of the sea that was Augustus' proudest achievement finally broke down for good. <BR/><BR/>But I would like to ask Wickham (or read the book to find out) how he can be sure NO families in 800 knew much of their ancestors in 400? None mention it, okay - but how many talked to whoever he interviewed? I can well believe no one but a couple of Armenians boasted of a link, but how do we know there were none? The Franks certainly intermarried with Gallo-Roman aristocrats - unlike the Goths and Lombards, they were Catholic and acceptable spouses. But is it the change of name that gives CW his clue? Who were the senatorial families in Constantinople in 800? Did NONE of them link to Old Rome? <BR/><BR/>On the Balkans in this period: you know, c. 400-700, the whole peninsula was occupied by invading Slavs, all the cities were destroyed, all the landowners driven out and replaced; the great monasteries had not been founded yet; what records would have survived? I'll bet there's lots of speculation in Bulgarian and Serb and Croat and modern Greek, but very very little written primary source material.<BR/><BR/>P.S. Very glad to read your review and very eager to get a peek at the book. Ef karisto poli!<BR/><BR/>Jean Coeur de Lapin<BR/>atsarisborn@hotmail.comBrightshadowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04839714759427606012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19833734.post-1160323997610834742006-10-08T12:13:00.000-04:002006-10-08T12:13:00.000-04:00Figuring out what books to assign and whether they...Figuring out what books to assign and whether they are worth the price the student will pay is always tough, esp. since books tend to be more expensive in Canada. My rule is that if I make them buy it, it has to be used in an assignment.<BR/><BR/>Of course Framing the EMA doesn't qualify. But I'd like to feel I could order it for the library for an advanced student, perhaps in an individual study project, to use.<BR/>At around $200 CDN this is not going to happen, unless I pass on the donated copy. We could buy four other more generally useful books for that price -- in some areas, more than four.Steve Muhlbergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18136005762428407135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19833734.post-1160249467072989592006-10-07T15:31:00.000-04:002006-10-07T15:31:00.000-04:00Thanks Steve - I picked up on your post to Mediev-...Thanks Steve - I picked up on your post to Mediev-L. I've also linked to your comments on sentent.blogspot.com. If you or your students want to read my review of Heather's 'Fall of Rome' and my ongoing citing of Gibbon's, they can find them there. <BR/><BR/>ClemensClemenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05922786452973982414noreply@blogger.com