The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Middle Ages, 3 vols.(Review)

ROBERT FOSSIER (ed.), 350-950, trans. Janet Sondheimer; vol. II, 950 1250, trans. Stuart Airlie and Robyn Marsack; vol. III, 1250-1520, trans. Sarah Henbury Tenison. Pp. xxii + 556; xv + 544; xviii + 554. Cambridge, New York, Oakleigh: Cambridge University Press, 1989 (repr. 1997). [pounds]100.00 for 3-vol. boxed set (ISBN 0-521-59078-7).

More than fifteen years ago, Robert Fossier, senior professor of medieval history at the Sorbonne, joined with eleven colleagues to produce Le moyen age, a synthesis in three large volumes for the publisher Armand Colin (1982-3). The Illustrated Cambridge History (no relation of the unillustrated Cambridge Medieval History) is an English translation of the Colin volumes. Earlier available, volumes III and I have sold well individually and been reprinted. After a decade the full set is complete.

The pictures of the Cambridge edition closely follow the layout of the Colin version (not called 'illustrated'): colour plates are distributed through each volume in thematically related groups of …