This was a very good, comprehensive overview of the philosophy of the Middle Ages, focused especially on the period from Augustine of Hippo to Duns Scotus, but touching on some areas outside of that as well. Thomas Aquinas, of course, takes up the largest chunk of the book of any of the philosophers covered. I was also impressed that Coplestone covered some of the more "obscure" -- or at least less known -- figures of Medieval philosophy, such as Giles of Rome. I have only two complaints about the book. My first complaint is that Coplestone is a bit of a dry writer. Aristotle, the favorite ancient of most of the Middle Ages in the West, is a dry philosopher. So, when you combine the two, you often have long periods of reading's equivalent to the sound that Charlie Brown's teacher makes. My other complaint is that Coplestone spends too much time trying to justify the philosophers rather than letting them speak for themselves. All said, this book is a good introduction to the subject. ( )

Copleston, a Jesuit, wrote a series of books on the history of philosophy so that his students could have a deeper understanding of philosophy to complement their theological knowledge. This second volume covers Medieval Philosophy, which is simply equivalent to Theology. Naturally, this topic is of great interest to the author, so the level of detail is greater than the prior volume, and the bibliography at the end of the work is several times larger than that from the previous volume on Greece and Rome. The text is detailed and well-referenced to original works. The volume is extensively indexed, with separate listings for names and subjects. As with many works which are images of earlier-printed texts, the type is not as crisp as with modern printing and fatigues the eyes a bit quickly. I do not share the level of interest in theology as the author, and finished this work only with difficulty despite the clarity with which Copleston expresses ideas. I tired of the bias and never picked up the additional volumes in the series.