This book, presenting history through the works of first-person narrators, discusses the importance of the modern nation-state, the bubonic plague which would recur intermittently, and the decline of the papacy.

Barbarians: Ancestors of the "barbarians" / by Publius Cornelius Tacitus -- Huns / by Ammianus Marcellinus -- Vikings attack western Europe / from the annals of Saint-Bertin and an anonymous monk -- Burgundian law code / Lex Burgundionum -- Saints and sinners: Miracles of Saint Benedict / by Saint Gregory the Great -- Holiness of Saint Francis / by Friar Thomas of Celano -- Assassination of Saint Thomas Becket / by Edward Grim -- Miracles of Saint Thomas Becket / from an anonymous source -- Ordeal of hot water / from an anonymous church doctrine -- Emperors and kings: Portrait of Charlemagne / by Einhard -- How William the Conqueror ruled / from the Anglo-Saxon chronicles -- Louis VI seeks justice in his kingdom / by Abbot Suger of Saint Denis -- King John and Magna Carta / from anonymous sources -- Louis IX: the saintly king / by John of Joinville -- Crusaders: Pope Urban II declares the first crusade / by Pope Urban II, as recorded by Robert the Monk -- Victorious crusaders / by Duke Godfrey of Bouillon -- Siege of Jerusalem / by Fulcher of Chartres -- Richard I defeats Saladin / by Charles Oman -- Arab views the crusaders / by Ousama Ibn Mounkidh -- Peace and truce of God / by the Council of Toulouges -- Mosaic of life: Black Death strikes Florence / by Giovanni Boccaccio -- Cremation of the Jews in Strasbourg / by Jacob von Konigshofen -- Papal protection of the Jews / by Pope Gregory X -- Vision of Piers Plowman / by William Langland -- Life of a student / from an anonymous source and Jacques de Vitry -- Advice to a Norwegian merchant / from an anonymous source -- Travels of Marco Polo / by Marco Polo.