The Mirror of the Medieval

<ul> <li> One unique aspect of this book is its approach to interdisciplinary work. While many earlier works have sought to bring anthropological approaches to the study of the medieval past what is different about this book is its emphasis on the value of disciplinary borrowing in both directions; in other words it describes not only the need for anthropological theory in studying the Middle Ages but also how the discipline of anthropology would benefit from a more robust engagement with medieval history. </li> <li> This book is also distinctive in its call for a new approach to the medieval past that integrates approaches and methods from history anthropology and archaeology. </li> <li> What makes this book different from other ones that also investigate the “power of the past” or the “writing of history” is that it strives to be both descriptive and prescriptive in nature. In other words unlike most historiographical studies that are content to explain how the past was distorted by contemporary sociopolitical agendas (nationalism colonialism etc.) this book tackles the more challenging task of developing a new framework for studying the Middle Ages that can actually prove resistant to such sinister appropriation. </li> <li> At a more basic level the book is also rather unusual in the period and region covered. There are very few other monographs (in English) that investigate the eastern Alpine / northern Adriatic region during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. (Moreover most general surveys of medieval Europe give very little attention to this region.) This book aims to bring this long overlooked region of Central Europe to an English-speaking audience marshalling the current historical and archaeological scholarship that is primarily in German Slovene or Italian. </li></ul>