European naval and maritime history 300-1500 (review)

Short Notices lfig Lewis, Archibald R. and Timothy J. Runyan, European naval and maritime history 300-1500, rpt, Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, 1990; paper; pp. xvi, 192; 53 illustrations, 9 maps; R R P US$9.95. The reissue of this general survey of the history of the sea in the Middle Ages suggests that there is considerable demand for a succinct and clearly iUustrated text on a critical period of ship design. The relationship between ship design, the utilisation of sea routes, and the growth of sea power is obviously highly significant both for the history of the time and subsequent world history. This attempt to marry the different parts is inevitably hampered by constraints of length which leave as bald assertionstopicswhich cry out for a more detailed analysis. In particular, the integration of underwater archaeological work on intermittentiy surviving and recoverable wrecks, whose interpretation can often be debatable, into a narrative account presents difficulties. The periodisation and the accounts of military developments are therefore mainly based on documentary evidence and are fairly conventional. The arguments presented are sometimes questionable. The chronological relationships suggested for the development of the Hansa trade empire may be doubted as it depends as much on the moment at which certain records appear as anything else. If this work stimulates historians to further investigation and to a fuller treatment however, it will have served a very useful purpose. Sybil M . Jack Department of History University of Sydney Loyn, H. R., ed., The Middle Ages: a concise encyclopedia, rpt, London, Thames and Hudson, 1991; paper; pp. 352; 250 illustrations; R.R.P. AUS$49.95. This volume is a reissue in paperback of the 1989 hardback edition. See the full critical review by J. O. Ward in Parergon 8.2, December 1990. The present volume is more reasonably priced, though the production quality remains at the very high standard of the hardback. The soft-binding is also strong enough to stand up to the frequent use which will be made of such a work. It remains to note again some of the good features of this encyclopaedia. The early medieval speciatist is moved to praise the extent of the coverage of early medieval topics. The choice of illustrations is also particularly excellent. While the specialist will find little that is new in this work, it is an admirable reference work and especially so for the undergraduate who is searching for concise definitions of ...