Review by Choice Review
With its color illustrations of rare paintings and artifacts, this thoughtful and informative, elegantly fashioned excursion into the life of a medieval city is a veritable feast of information and visual delights. Frugoni (emer., Univ. of Rome and Columbia Univ.) is a marvelously experienced historical travel guide. Her father, Arsenio Frugoni, himself a distinguished scholar, published a brief essay on this topic before his death in 1970. In homage to him, she has expanded it and leads readers, chapter by chapter, on an engaging journey back into the streets of a typical, mostly Italian, city in the high and later Middle Ages. Frugoni writes of "the time of labor [and] memory"; describes "the road that leads to the city"; and takes readers "inside" the walls to encounter "the lives of children," "childhood learning," "adult reading," and finally the "indoors." The translation is clear and unobtrusive, every page reflecting the author's verve and intellectual curiosity. With extensive notes, mostly to Italian sources, and a bibliography, this is a gem that will appeal to general audiences as well as students and scholars of the European Middle Ages. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. D. R. Skopp Plattsburgh SUNY
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
In this charming and insightful book, Frugoni (medieval studies, emerita, Univ. of Rome; Books, Banks, Buttons: And Other Inventions from the Middle Ages) takes the reader on "a ramble through the streets and into the houses and lives of the people of the Middle Ages." In its construction, the book is a bit of a ramble itself: the introduction is a redraft of two pieces written by her prematurely deceased father; there follow excursuses on the urban perception of time and on the city walls and passageways, a long chapter on life inside the city, and shorter chapters on children's lives, their education, and adult reading habits. Frugoni deploys an abundance of paintings, illuminations, statuary, tales and memoirs, and details of the construction of houses to convey the texture and feel of everyday life in a far-gone age. The result is a sensitive work of scholarship, written with exceptional grace and infused with a warm sense of humanity. Frugoni does not sugarcoat the brutality of life for most in the Middle Ages, but the overall impression is of a vibrant society. Enthusiastically recommended for all collections.-David Keymer, Modesto, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.