First published in 1938 and reprinted many times, this book by the distinguished medievalist G. G. Coulton (1858-1947) was described by The Times Literary Supplement as ‘a triumph of presentation … This survey is in short an achievement notable alike for its erudition and also for the grace with which such learning is here so lightly carried. … it would be hard to discover a better introduction to the everyday life of England during those pregnant centuries between the Norman Conquest and the Reformation’. Fifty-two chapters based on a lifetime of research cover every aspect of medieval life, from the emergence of feudalism to ‘the bursting of the dykes’ at the Reformation. The focus is largely on England, but the European context is also clearly defined in this remarkable synthesis: as a review in The Observer said at first publication, ‘There is no one else like Dr Coulton.