"Great Books for the SCA Tradition"

[Mjccmc01 at aol.com]

Well, since I started this thread, I guess I should post.  These are the
general broad titles, useful for a good basic understanding of the period.

Non-period works:

The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey.  This book is a murder mystery, but
is one of the best, least painful introductions to historical research there
is.  Please, read this book.  A&S documentation will seem much less
burdensome and perhaps even (gasp!) fun.

Seeing Through Clothes, by Anne Holland.  Hollander is an art historian with
a special interest in the difference between the depiction of clothes in art
and clothes in reality.  The book contains some very useful commentary on
artistic conventions of the day and how they play into the depiction of
clothes.  A must for really serious costumers - whether you agree or not, it
makes you think about your sources very critically.  The chapter on
historical costuming in movies is great.  Lots of good pictures (B&W)

A History of Private Life, Vols. I-III, edited by Phillip Arles and George
D'uby.  Fabulous for information like, how many people most likely slept in
one room, etc.  Exceptionally well done, and often on sale at Barnes &
Nobles.

A History of Her Own:  Women in Europe from Prehistory to the Present.  Full
of really fascinating information.  The introduction alone is worth the price
of  book for the explanation of some of the research methods used.

Founders of the Western World:  The Civilization of Greece and Rome, by
Michael Grant.  Useful in that is discusses Greece and Rome in terms of their
effect on our particular time period.

In Search of the Dark Ages, by Michael Grant.  A very good general work on
the early period.

Timetables of History.  This is just a great all purpose reference work for
when you have an idea as to the general time frame something happened, but
need to pin it down to a year.

The Knight, the Lady, and the Priest, by Georges D'uby.  Interesting
examination of how relations between the sexes gradually became regulated by
the church.  Especially interesting because it views the church as protecting
the position of women instead of the more common "church as oppressor" view.

Love in the Western World, by Georges D'uby.  How our notions of romantic
love have evolved.

Imagining the Middle Ages, Ed. by Norman Cantor.  Not, as you might suppose
from the title, a survey of the SCA.  A collection of essays discussing
various school of historical interpretation and how different attitudes
toward the Middle Ages emerged.  It can be really helpful in evaluating other
works.

A History of Medieval Christianity:  Prophecy & Order, by Jeffrey Burton
Russell.  This has the great advantage of being a brief but not superficial
discussion of the role of religion in medieval life.

Several books on the military, knighthood, etc., that I'm going to let Sir
Galen discuss (Nicolli, not Bristol).

In the interest of brevity, here are some "anything by" authors:

C.S. Lewis.  When he wasn't writing Christian fiction or commentary, he did
some wonderful medival/Renaissance scholarship.

A.L. Rowse.  Very readable social historian, especially England.  I
particularly like Elizabethan England:  The Life of the Society, because it
lets you know all about who had illegitimate children, etc.  Great for
gossipy persona play for Elizabethan types.

This isn't even close to all of my life, and I haven't even gotten to the
period works.  I'm going to have to do this piecemeal.

Bookishly yours,

Siobhan

P.S.  Gunnora, did you really like A World Lit Only by Fire?  I thought
Manchester should have stuck with 20th century America myself.  SB