THE NEW PENGUIN ATLAS OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY...

THE NEW PENGUIN ATLAS OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY by Colin McEvedy (Penguin: $10; 112 pp . , paperback original). McEvedy traces the collapse of the Roman Empire and the gradual reestablishment of urban civilization in Europe through 47 maps. The diagrams and accompanying text emphasize shifts in population, trade routes and the conflicts among various civil and ecclesiastical powers. McEvedy’s concise notes explain how the limited picture of the world derived from Herodotus gradually gave way to a more accurate vision, a vision the voyages of discovery in the 15th and 16th Centuries confirmed and extended.