The Early Middle Ages

By: Philip Daileader, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Philip Daileader

The Early Middle Ages - the years from A.D. 650 to 1000 - were crucial to Europe's future social and political development. These 24 lectures trace a journey from Scandinavia across northern and central Europe to the farthest reaches of the Byzantine and Islamic empires, providing an exciting new look an era often simply called the "Dark Ages."

Given the period's dismal reputation and its temporal remoteness from the 21st century, you'll be surprised to learn about some of the most challenging questions historians have ever had to tackle: Why did the Roman Empire fall? Why did the ancient world give way to the medieval world? Why did Christian monotheism become the dominant religion in Europe? You'll meet some of the era's exciting figures, such as St. Augustine and Justinian, and you'll consider the extent to which the historical realities of King Arthur and Charlemagne match up to the legends that have become attached to their names. You'll also look at the era's effect on the Vikings, the rise of the Carolingians, and the golden age of Islamic rule in Spain.

Professor Daileader also explores the contrasting historical theories offered by two extremely influential historians: Edward Gibbon, the English author of the monumental The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, whose explanations closely followed those of the Roman moralists of the 4th and 5th centuries; and Henri Pirenne, the Belgian thinker who injected a newfound emphasis on social and especially economic factors into the analysis of history.

You'll see why the era belies its reputation as dark and dismal, but you'll come away with a new appreciation for this once-lost era.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2004 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2004 The Great Courses

Early Middles

I enjoy everything that this professor does, but I do enjoy this time period this best. He has such a good sense of humor and relevance.

Great course, better Professor

This period of history can be rather dry for a variety of reasons, but Professor Daileader not only manages to put together a course that is fascinating throughout, but his delivery is excellent. There is even a fair amount of humour, which I almost never find in the Great Courses series.

Professor Daileader is easily the best orator in the Great Courses series, and second only to Michael C. Drout from the Modern Scholar series.

Highly recommended.

Great narration

The professor narrating the history of this period makes it so entertaining to listen to.

I've definitely learned a lot more about the middle ages and managed to fill the gap existing in my knowledge.

Absolutely recommend it!

Keep Listening!

Long distance commuter here. I've listened to probably 500 hours of audiobooks and lectures and have heard a variety of speaking habits and accents. This professor's inflection on some words made it a little difficult for me to get into because it was a bit distracting. However, I pushed through and eventually didn't even hear that anymore.
I recommend listening to this lecture if you are interested in ancient/medieval history and/or watch The Last Kingdom on Netflix! He gives a lot of interesting background around that time period.

Great narration, entertaining history lesson

This is read by the author as a series of lectures and it is organized like all the Great Courses series. That makes it easy to get through a lot of information in a reasonable time. I like to listen while commuting as each lecture is around 45 minutes.. I like the author's voice and I like his moments of humor that enliven stories and how he lectures. He reminds me of my best university teachers. After this, I will be looking for more by the same author.