Books, good and otherwise, and the Middle Ages

This last semester I had my students in the Medieval History class read The Gothic Enterprise by Rober Scott. It is a good read and pulls together a lot of info on the whole Gothic experience, but Scott is an amateur and it shows. He's done a lot of reading on the subject, but doesn't know the latest stuff or how to put it in context - he is still quoting Georges Duby without realizing that much of Duby's work has been severely criticized in recent years. Still, he has some sharp memorable scenes that students may actually remember which will allow them to get a purchase on Medieval society in a way more accurate scholarly work might not.

Besides, I am beginning to think that it is as much what we misunderstand or misjudge that is as important to advancing scholarship as what we have gotten right. Since we have gotten very little 'right' this is fortunate. Most of what we 'know' about the past is merely little nuggets of facts and factoids embedded in a matrix of what we 'know' about the world around us in the here and now.

When it comes to history, like much else, we are still trying to break free of the mentality of the 19th century, as remarkable as the intellectual achievements of that period were. It was the 20th century where humankind really went off the deep end. We must have killed a billion people, one way or another, mainly in trying to bring the fruits of 19th century theories into actual practice.

God only knows what we will mange to do in the 21rst Century.