Miss Mills lets medieval chroniclers tell their own tales, poets and troubadours, minstrels and wandering scholars sing their own songs and the serf describe his hard lot. Beginning with the early Middle Ages, she tells how Constantinople acted as a bulwark against attacks of uncivilized tribes from the East; how Christian missionaries went out to convert the pagan lands of Europe; the story of Mohammed and the influence of Islam; of Vikings and their seafaring adventures. Her book combines interesting source material with a scholarly interpretation of important events and of those features which characterized all countries during the Middle Ages: the Church; monks and friars and pilgrims; feudalism and chivalry; the manor and towns; Crusades; students wandering in search of learning; sciecne and magic; poetry and drama; arts and crafts.

The author traces the adventures made in government during the Middle Ages and shows how this period drew to a close with the raising of voices questioning the old established things, the forerunners of a new world, whose roots lie in these distant centuries.

Illustrations are from contemporary sources, and many of them have rarely been reproduced. Maps and chronological charts.

From the dust jacket