As many list members surely know, Chris Wickham in his Inheritance
of Rome has produced a masterly synthesis of the Early Middle Ages.
Having looked at it, I think I may be able to use it as a text for my upper
level undergrad course in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Normally I don’t
use such a formidable text, but this is up to date, so well-written,
and unlike Julia Smith's and Michael Innes' recent syntheses,
more conventional in topics and organization, I would love to expose students
to it.
My one hesitation about content is that Wickham does not
appear to be very sympathetic to Christianity, though he is fair and
certainly fulsome in his treatment.
If anyone has looked at the book as has an opinion of its
suitability for smart, though not usually brilliant US undergrads, I'd be happy
to hear it.
thanks
John W.
Kalamazoo College