by Amy Kaufman
First published 2020
Amy S. Kaufman and Paul B. Sturtevant investigate how political movements distort medieval history to justify hatred and violence. The authors track the obsession with supposed "medieval times" that fuels nationalism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, misogyny, and white supremacy. They demonstrate how every generation since the Middle Ages has bent this historical period to serve contemporary political agendas. Kaufman and Sturtevant dismantle the false narrative of medieval Europe as a uniformly oppressive, male-dominated society. Instead, they present evidence of a medieval world that was diverse, dynamic, and far more complex than popular culture suggests. The book offers readers tools to recognize historical manipulation and a clearer understanding of what medieval life actually encompassed.
Genres: history, non-fiction, medieval, academic
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: false-narrative
Period: Middle Ages
208 pages · Paperback · University of Toronto Press
Content warnings: sexism