The worst book on the medieval period you’ll (n)ever read

I hope you won’t read William Manchester’s A World Lit Only By Fire. But if you have stumbled across this bestselling farrago of nonsense about the Middle Ages, then here is the antidote, in two (so far) parts: “A world lit only by misconceptions: part I” and “A world lit only by misconceptions: part II.” Thank you, Vaulting and Vellum, for doing this!

And for one antidote to Manchester’s mess of a book, focusing on medieval monasticism, see here.

And for a more thorough catalog of the egregious errors and ludicrous stereotypes appearing in Manchester’s book, see this post by the Medieval History Geek.