Susan Reynolds is Emeritus Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She is the author of An Introduction to the History of English Medieval Towns (OUP, 1977; CPB 1982), and Kingdoms and Communities in Western Europe 900-1300 (OUP, 1984; CPB 1986). She lives in London SW.
``utterly absorbing and important. If Dr Reynolds's arguments are
accepted, then most textbooks on medieval history will have to be
recalled for repair like defective washing-machines ... Dr
Reynolds's superb book is bound to generate much scholarly
debate.''
Observer
`Offers a broad set of criteria through which to analyse the
evidence, in order to establish the nature of social status and
relationships...In establishing her negative conclusion, the
inadequacy of the feudo-vassalic orthodoxy, she is triumphantly
successful. She is also vividly persuasive in her depiction of the
gradual transformation of localised societies based on a great
diversity of customs.'
History Today
``this is a quietly original re-examination of the medieval world
and of the feudal system in particular. "It has the austerity,
compression and concentration of Sibelius's Fourth Symphony"
(Stuart Airlie)'
Observer
`the reader's way is greatly eased by a lucid, engaging style that
avoids jargon and any attempt at deconstructive methodology.
Undoubtedly it will form a watershed in our understanding of
medieval society.'
The Historian
`'For once the hype is worth attending to: this is a quietly
original re-examination of the medieval world and of the feudal
system in particular.''
The Observer
``she clarifies this feudal business so thoroughly that it ought
now to be possible for the first time to discuss it without talking
nonsense. ... anyone who understands the title ought to read the
book. It will be bought by university libraries.''
The Spectator
``a book whose intellectual courage is as stirring as its range is
wide and its scholarship deep. There have been none that so
meticulously examines its manifestations in nearly all major
medieval contexts.''
Times Literary Supplement
`Dr Reynolds pits her formidable resources of learning, subtlety
and not least common sense. Her...book sets out to show how it
simply is not true that medieval society was organised or even
envisaged in accordance with the feudal principles at any date
until long after what historians regard as their heyday...she
substitutes an alternative, more modulated and so inherently more
plausible model of the history of the relationships in
question...This, then,
is a book whose intellectual courage is as stirring as its range is
wide and its scholarship deep.'
The Times Literary Supplement
`Susan Reynolds gained our enduring respect in 1984 with her
magisterial Kingdoms and Communities in Western Europe, 900-1300,
and now with this work, her reputation will only be
enhanced......Reynolds uncovers a plethora of items for further
research that will keep scholars busy on important topics for a
long time..... Those of us who have merely picked away at the
feudal Middle Ages in our articles and books are immeasurably in
her debt for this heroic
effort.'
Albion
`Reynolds uncovers a plethora of items for further research that
will keep scholars busy on important topics for a long time ... her
contribution is massive and dominating in its breadth and depth.
Those of us who have merely picked away at the feudal Middle Ages
in our articles and books are immeasurably in her debt for this
heroic effort.'
Bernard S. Bachrach, University of Minnesota, Albion
`Our champion is mightily armed: the learning and erudition that Dr
Reynolds has at her disposal may be seen not just in the
substantial bibliography but on every page of this long (and very
attractively priced) book.'
Roger Collins, University of Edinburgh, History
`the reader's way is greatly eased by a lucid, engaging style that
avoids jargon and any attempt at deconstructive methodology ...
Undoubtedly it will form a watershed in our understanding of
medieval society.'
Richard Kay, University of Kansas, The Historian
`The underlying thesis, sustained with verve and learning, is that
much early medieval evidence has been given a misleading juridical
coherence ... the book should make us far more sensitive both to
vocabulary and to our own preconceptions.'
Timothy Reuter, University of Southampton, Early Medieval Europe
1996 5(2)
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