The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization and Cultural Change 950 - 1350

A wave of internal conquest, settlement and economic growth in Europe during High Middle Ages transformed it from a world of small separate communities into a network of powerful kingdoms. This book shows how Europe was itself a product of colonization, as much as it was later a colonizer, and what this did to shape the continent and the world.

The most stimulating and well-written reassessment of medieval Europe that has appeared for many years.
Bartlett amasses a wealth of documentation and, unlike other authors, he weaves a rich tapestry of colourful incidents, personalities, and contemporary comment.... A masterful survey of the forces that shaped the West.
An absolutely first-rate book.... Bartlett has elucidated the making not only of Europe but of our own country and of the modern world as a whole.
Essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the problems of Europe today.
The Making of Europe is an important book. . . . This excellent discussion of medieval colonial expansion is much overdue. . . . [It] goes a long way toward understanding what is meant by the European mindset and sheds some light on why this mindset spread into the far corners of the globe.
. . . a useful and illuminating book, marked by breadth of outlook, impressive erudition, and a convincing discussion of the principal forces contributing to the "making of Europe" between the tenth and the fourteenth centuries.