An Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages (375-814)
by Ephraim Emerton
Category: Europe

"The period of time of which this book treats is that lying between the greatest splendor of the Roman Empire and the beginning of what may properly be called the Middle Ages. It is a period which has often been passed over lightly by historians or dismissed with a sneer as the Dark Ages of the world. It is only when we realize that this is a period of decay only in the sense in which the leaf decays, that it may make the ground fruitful for more abundant life, that we are able to see its true meaning. If we can do this, then what had before seemed blind forces of destruction become agents working together in the making of a new and fairer civilization. It is the purpose of this book to dwell upon these elements of construction, to show how they originated, and how they were tending to produce the life of the great period which was to follow"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved)