Daniel Philip Waley (1921–2017)

This is a good short overview of independent Italian city states in the 12th - 13th centuries, particularly their internal government and external politics. I thought the chapter on internal divisions was especially interesting, because it demonstrates how precarious this "republican" form of government was. In the concluding chapter the author states that the occasional survival of republicanism is actually more difficult to explain than the eventual triumph of large-scale monarchy. This show more book can be recommended to readers interested in renaissance history and early quasi-democratic government in Europe. show less

A very quick zip around roughly 300 years of history in Western Europe. The 13th and 14th centuries are particularly ones that I do not know much about; unfortunately the feeling I had after reading this book was not that I learnt what happened, but that I became aware of how much I don't know. Waley doesn't give explanations of the most major of figures; he takes it as assumed knowledge. This is okay if you have an idea of the time period but for me this was a bit of problem, especially show more with French kings. Overall, not bad for a very quick overview, and there were some stand-out chapters like the one on Burgundy, but perhaps not ideal as a introductory text to any of the time periods or places covered. show less

2694 Later Medieval Europe: From Saint Louis to Luther, by Daniel Waley (read 8 Jan 1995) This book deals with the period from about 1270 to 1525, and some of its chapters are very good. It is an interesting period and the author's views are not objectionable. Some of the things covered I did not know much about, i.e., the Turkish conquest of southeastern Europe and the unification of Spain. There is a good chapter on Burgundy. Not a bad book.