A consideration of tenth-century Europe on the eve of the second millennium. Fichtenau offers a survey of all the main spheres of life: the social order, the rural economy, schooling and religious belief and practice in both the secular and monastic church.
His command, especially of the narrative sources, their fine nuances of attitude emotion and underlying norms, is masterly and he employs them here with all the sensitiveness and feel for the subject that have always been the hallmarks of his work.