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Article: Light on the dark ages.(Britain in the Middle Ages: An Archaeological History)(Book review)
- Article from:
- Quadrant
- Article date:
- January 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Quadrant Magazine Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Britain in the Middle Ages: An Archaeological History, by Francis Pryor; Harper Perennial, 2006, $24.99.
IT WAS THE WORST of times--life was said to be nasty, brutish and short. Even the words, such as medieval, let alone dark ages, are taken to mean any awful sort of society, squalid, ignorant, oppressive and dull. According to some it lasted from the dawn of mankind until the end of the Menzies Era.
And it was the best of times, of devoted craftsmen building soaring cathedrals, unquestioning, irradiating and seamless Catholic faith, jolly millers, a co-operative, organic society where all ranks worked together for the greater good until the horrors of ...