Upon this review I prostrate myself. I subscribed to the arrogance of the Enlightenment; constrained by the belief that the golden age of rationalism singularly birthed our present civilization. The magisterial Middle Ages by Johannes Fried seeks to educate my heathen kin in this mistaken notion. In particular, its wonderfully full survey of Europe from late antiquity to the early Renaissance relates the role of the Middle Ages in Europe, its nations, sovereignty, jurisprudence, scientific method, and philosophy. It does so in a clear, and I assume well translated, style that follows developments, characters, and ideas, passing back and forth across time in individual chapters, while ultimately covering a thousand years of history. This work has completely changed my perspective on the role of the Middle Ages.

“The Enlightenment thinker Kant and his contemporaries were heirs to the age they denigrated, not its conquerors. They stood on the shoulders of others, yet were unaware of doing so.” (524, Epilogue.)