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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 170 Short Notices subjects such as the various heresies, where a brief explanation is often needed, but rarely obtainable. Jonathan M . Wooding Department of History University of Sydney Tellenbach, Gerd, Church, state and Christian society at the time of the Investiture Contest (Medieval Academy reprints for teaching, 27), trans. R. F. Bennett, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1991; paper; pp. xxiv, 196; R.R.P. CAN$14.95. Much water has passed under the bridge since the original publication in German in 1936 of this early book by one of the century's foremost medieval historians. It would be possible to write a lengthy discussion of it drawing attention to changed general perspectives and possible misinterpretations of particular areas, but such an exercise would be beside the point. The present reviewer remembers the sense of excitement engendered by the book's powerful intellectual constructs and its sense of pulling up deep roots when he read it as an undergraduate. It retains its hold. Reading a major historian writing on a major topic can afford a mind-stretching pleasure even when the work has been superseded in various ways. It is therefore good to welcome its return to print in the series of reprints sponsored by the Medieval Academy of America. This collection has grown to the point where i t offers a most respectable introduction to the Middle Ages, providing primary sources and key monographs at very reasonable prices. The stature of the series is enhanced by the addition of this latest volume. John Moorhead Department of History University of Queensland ...

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