On the very day I write this review about "Medieval France: An Encyclopedia," the New York Times is running an Op-Ed piece called "How to Publish Without Perishing," in which author James Gleick speculates on the fate of printed books in the Internet age: "For some kinds of books, the writing is on the wall. Encyclopedias are finished," he writes. Not so fast! We might agree that it would be a waste of effort to publish a printed encyclopedia about, say, information technology. It would be out of date before the presses were up to speed. However, medieval France is another matter.



Routledge published "Medieval France: An Encyclopedia" in 1995, before the Internet became a threat to traditional book publishers. As a physical tome, this book is well illustrated, designed and manufactured to last, its future in libraries and private collections assured. In short, it's impressive. Medieval France is frozen in time, too. Its fabric will never change although our knowledge and interpretations will evolve. "Medieval France: An Encyclopedia" seems safe from redundancy for years to come. A roster of authors of the caliber of Grover A. Zinn, Jr. (who gives us the entry on Peter Abelard), and Stephen Weinberger (Arbitration of disputes), ensures that these pages present contributors of high achievement drawn from leading lights among religious and secular historians. True, this book will miss fashions that blossom and die on the Internet, but beyond that it gives readers high-level, mainstream explanations on just about everything under the medieval sun. Well written, indexed and cross-referenced, too. A wealth of entries covers the usual people, events, arts and institutions. But this encyclopedia adds many arcane subjects (i.e. mining zinc) omitted elsewhere. Turn these pages to discover trade, veneration (as well as religion), religious orders, liturgy and literature, healing, climate, evolving tastes in music, and a great deal more besides. Medieval France, while not a military powerhouse, exported influences, often to the point of cultural dominance, far beyond its borders. "Medieval France: An Encyclopedia" constitutes an encyclopedic record of a cultural age as well as a place and a time.



Robert Fripp, author of

"Power of a Woman. Memoirs of a turbulent life: Eleanor of Aquitaine"

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