Dark Ages History

INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER The evidence is clear—we are now entering a post-literate society. In this urgent and timely account, James Marriott shows the potential impact of this shift and offers a passionate defense of the written word. It’s not by chance that the rise of new...

Following the fall of Rome in 476 CE, the entire dynamic of Europe underwent a complete shift in power and culture. The Dark Ages was an interesting period of about six centuries, and during it, Europe was still trying to figure out what it was and how it would survive the chaos that followed the fall of Rome. 

Brought to you by Penguin. In Search of the Dark Ages is an unrivalled exploration of the origins of English identity, and the bestselling book that established Michael Wood as one of Britain's leading historians. Now, on the book's 40th anniversary, this fully revised and expanded edition...

An essential, epic new history illuminating the Middle Ages, told through the lives of twelve remarkable women who lived through the wild, raucous, and experimental time period and made it their own The era between the fall of Rome in AD 500 and the year 1000 feels strangely alien. We trace our...

The Dark Ages is the story of the birth of Western civilization. It was a harrowing crucible of war, destruction, and faith. For over 100 years, Charles Oman's famous history has remained one of the finest sources for the study of this period. Covering a period of 500 years and an area stretching from Northern Germany to Egypt, this is the definitive history that will alter your conceptions of a period of history that gave birth to the civilization we live in today.

‘Fresh, vivid and full of surprises. This is the Dark Ages as you’ve never seen them’ ALICE LOXTON The Dark Ages have long been cast as a murky, unknowable period – a void between the worlds of Rome and later medieval Europe. That picture is wrong. In this sweeping history of Europe...

From the schism between Rome and Constantinople to the rise of the T'ang Dynasty, from the birth of Muhammad to the crowning of Charlemagne, this erudite book tells the fascinating, often violent story of kings, generals, and the peoples they ruled.

When people think of ancient Greece, images of philosophers such as Plato or Socrates often come to mind, as do great warriors like Pericles and Alexander the Great. But hundreds of years before Athens became a city, a Greek culture flourished and spread its tentacles throughout the Western Mediterranean region via trade and warfare. Scholars have termed this pre-Classical Greek culture the Mycenaean culture, which existed from about 2000 to 1200 BCE, when Greece, along with much of the Eastern Mediterranean, was thrust into a centuries-long Dark Ages.

Survive the fall of the Roman Empire and witness the epic medieval history that forged our modern world. Perfect for your daily commute, this immersive historical narrative transforms a misunderstood era into a gripping saga of survival, technological innovation, and clashing kingdoms. Step into...

In The Way the Crow Flies, Ann-Marie MacDonald takes us back to the early 1960’s, a time of optimism infused with the excitement of the space race and overshadowed by the menace of the Cold War—a world filtered through the imagination of Madeleine McCarthy, a spirited nine-year-old. Unaware...

“Imagine Call Me By Your Name set in Communist Poland and you'll get a sense of Jedrowski's moving debut about a consuming love affair amidst a country being torn apart.” — O Magazine, LGBTQ Books That’ll Change the Literary Landscape in 2020 “Captivating both for its shimmering...

When the legendary Frankish king and emperor Charlemagne died in 814 he left behind a dominion and a legacy unlike anything seen in Western Europe since the fall of Rome. Johannes Fried paints a compelling portrait of a devout ruler, a violent time, and a unified kingdom that deepens our understanding of the man often called the father of Europe.

King Arthur is probably the most famous and certainly the most legendary medieval king. From the early ninth century through the middle ages, to the Arthurian romances of Victorian times, the tales of this legendary figure have blossomed and multiplied. And in more recent times, there has been a continuous stream of books claiming to have discovered the "facts" about, or to unlock the secret or truth behind, the "once and future king". Broadly speaking, there are two Arthurs.

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 GILLER PRIZE From award-winning, bestselling author Wayne Johnston comes a boisterous, sweeping tragicomic saga of faith, loyalty, and family secrets that refuse to stay buried At twenty-eight, Vivvy Holloway is nearly the same height as when she was five. Though she...

New York Times Bestseller * New York Public Library Best Book of 2016 * Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2016 * Kirkus Best Book of the Year Fans of acclaimed author Kendare Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood will devour Three Dark Crowns, the first book in a dark and inventive fantasy series...

"Unsettling, absolutely riveting, and—for better or worse—necessary reading." —Brian Christian, author of Algorithms to Live By and The Alignment Problem An entertaining account of the philosophy and technology of hacking—and why we all need to understand it. It’s a signal paradox of...

#1 New York Times bestseller! In this enthralling sequel to Kendare Blake’s New York Times bestselling Three Dark Crowns, Fennbirn’s deadliest queens must face the one thing standing in their way of the crown: each other. The battle for the crown has begun, but which of the three sisters...

Charlemagne was easily one of the most fascinating figures of Western civilization, as well as the most heroic and romantic. The 47 years of his reign marked some of the most significant and far reaching events of the Middle Ages. Undoubtedly, it was his enlightened vision for Europe that resulted in the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of cultural flowering that never really ceased to develop, and which led in a straight line directly to that period of astonishing achievement we now call the High Gothic. Even in the 21st century, we still hear the echoes of his deeds in the historical events that unfold today.

Rin’s story continues in this acclaimed sequel to The Poppy War—an epic fantasy combining the history of twentieth-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters. The war is over. The war has just begun. Three times throughout its history, Nikan has fought for its survival in the...

When Eddie wakes up in his neighbor the judge's yard after a particularly vivid dream and no recollection of how he got there, the trouble begins. Someone or something has caused mischief in the judge's chicken coop, harming his prized rooster. No matter what Eddie says, the judge is convinced...