A look at life in medieval Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire and the coming of the Renaissance. Life in this thousand year period saw the creation of western civilization; from Charlemagne, the Byzantines and the Hundred Years War, to the Crusades and the Black Death. Slowly the centre of civilization moved to the new, complex political and social structures of north-west Europe.

Abridged ed. of: The Oxford illustrated history of medieval Europe.