THE DIVINE ORDER

by Henry Bamford Parkes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 31, 1968

The period from the fifth century A.D. until the end of the Italian Renaissance was the crucible in which the ""modern world"" was formed through the Christianization--or, as our fathers call it, the Germanization--of Graeco-Roman culture. It is that thousand-year span which is the subject of Professor Parkes' new work, in which he traces the molding of Western culture in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance by the interchange of ideas among Christendom in the West, Byzantium, and Islam. As in the author's earlier Gods and Men, emphasis is on intellectual creativity, religious beliefs, and affective attitudes as the decisive factors in cultural evolution. Professor Parkes characterizes this evolution as the interplay between the forces created to maintain law and order (the medieval papacy and empire, the feudal system, etc.) and the movement toward freedom and rational and independent thought on the part of the individual. As a work of critical interpretation rather than of narrative history. The Divine Order will interest the professional historian rather than the general reader, but that limitation will not affect the book's significance as a first rate contribution by an illustrious historian.

Pub Date: Jan. 31, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION