Book review: Rhetoric and the writing of history, 400-1500

Rhetoric and the Writing of History provides an analytical overview of the vast range of historiography which was produced in western Europe over a thousand-year period between c.400 and c.1500. Concentrating on the general principles of classical rhetoric which informed so much of the language of this writing, alongside the more familiar traditions of ancient history, biblical exegesis and patristic theology, this survey is designed to serve as an introduction to the conceptual sophistication and semantic rigour with which medieval authors could approach their narratives of past and present events. Reviewed by Ignas Kalpokas.