Getting Medieval

Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe, by Thomas Cahill (Nan A. Talese, 368 pp., $32.50)

LET me say right off that I had nothing against Thomas Cahill before reading Mysteries of the Middle Ages. I knew him only as the author of a bestselling middlebrow history book, How the Irish Saved Civilization. As an occasional consumer of bestselling middlebrow history books (though not that particular one), I have never sniffed at contributions to the genre. If Cahill discovered that making a learned appeal to ethnic pride sells copies, well, then, bully for him.

SM

About the Author

Sarah M. Bramwell

Featured Tags

Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe, by Thomas Cahill (Nan A. Talese, 368 pp., $32.50)

LET me say right off that I had nothing against Thomas Cahill before reading Mysteries of the Middle Ages. I knew him only as the author of a bestselling middlebrow history book, How the Irish Saved Civilization. As an occasional consumer of bestselling middlebrow history books (though not that particular one), I have never sniffed at contributions to the genre. If Cahill discovered that making a learned appeal to ethnic pride sells copies, well, then, bully for him.