A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages cover art

A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages

A vivid and unfortgettable insight into medieval history

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages

By: Anthony Bale
Narrated by: Esh Alladi
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £12.06

Buy Now for £12.06

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the medieval souks of Tabriz, to the mysterious island of Caldihe, where sheep were said to grow on trees, Anthony Bale brings history alive in A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages, inviting the reader to travel across a medieval world punctuated with miraculous wonders and long-lost landmarks.

Journeying alongside scholars, spies and saints, from western Europe to the Far East and the Antipodes, this is no ordinary travel guide. From profane pilgrim badges and Venetian laxatives to encounters with bandits and trysts with mysterious medieval witches, this book mixes fact and folklore to offer an entertaining encyclopaedia of wondrous stories and peoples.

Using previously untranslated contemporary accounts from as far and wide as Turkey, Iceland, Armenia, north Africa, and Russia, A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages blurs the distinction between real and imagined places, offering the reader a vivid and unforgettable insight into how medieval people understood their world.

©2023 Anthony Bale (P)2023 Penguin Audio

 Europe Great Britain Medieval World Middle Ages Tradition Suspenseful Imperialism Africa Crusade

Critic reviews

A stunning book . . . weird and wonderful and quietly hilarious, but the enormous fun of this book would not be possible without solid graft — Bale’s dogged research and his diligent crafting of perfect prose (Gerard deGroot)
Superb . . . In his remarkable and expertly executed prose, Bale demonstrates his skill as a historian in his handling of the expansive source material available . . . The micro personal experiences told against the backdrop of macro topography is a Herculean task and one that is undertaken with immense passion and knowledge. A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages is a stunning example of the point where true scholarship meets popular history (Helen Carr)
An enthralling account of medieval travellers . . . [Bale's] enthusiasm is infectious . . . this is a work of serious scholarship (Rosemary Goring)
Ambitious, sweeping across continents with a keen eye for detail . . . moves fluidly between travelogue and scholarly text, imaginative literature and nonfiction . . . In a way that imaginative fiction arguably cannot, A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages brings us close to the past it experiences and allows us to be transformed in the process (Imogen Marchant)
Serious scholarship and a sightseer’s unbridled enthusiasm make for fascinating armchair time travel
A joyful, erudite book, and a global Middle Ages for our times. Journeying from a monastery in Wiltshire to Ethiopia, India and China, Anthony Bale reinvents the period through its intrepid travellers, and in the process redefines the period (Jerry Brotton, author of A History of the World in 12 Maps)
Intrepid, entertaining, and unfailingly curious, he has now travelled far and wide in their company; balancing sympathy with scepticism, he marvellously reconfigures the contours of our forebears' knowledge (Marina Warner)
Rich and wonderful. This is the world as you have never seen it before - and as it will never be seen again. And it's more surprising, extraordinary and bizarre than anything you can possibly imagine (Ian Mortimer, author of The Time-Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England)
A fascinating read . . . a new fact to be discovered on every page, written with enthusiasm and wisdom (Reverend Kate Bottley)
Masterful, panoramic, beautifully written and vividly imagined, A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages is a book to be savoured (Dr Helen Castor, author of Blood and Roses and She-Wolves)
All stars
Most relevant
I really enjoyed this book and found all of it very interesting. Travellers include a huge range from a lot of European countries, so it was good to get a wider perspective than just Marco Polo. it's amazing how much travel was going on in this period.

I wondered how the book would be organised. The author has gone for geographical chapters and within each chapter there are relevant themes and observations about travel and how it affects people. It all ties in nicely and seamlessly.

Most parts of the known world at that time are covered, although the main route is to Jerusalem and then to the silk road, so there is very little about North Africa or Northern Europe. Perhaps these places were less visited.

I would love to have had more about travellers from the East to Europe. There are some bits, but I guess that would need another book and sources may be limited.

The reader is good. Easy to listen to and quite fast-paced.

A great book if you love travel and history.

A fascinating history

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As well as being beautifully read, the tales woven here are beautifully told. Prepare yourself to be transported across Europe to Jerusalem, Egypt, Ethiopia, along the silk roads to Cathay and across the sea to the Antipodes, you’ll see the medieval work through the eyes of pilgrims and other travellers. I absolutely loved every moment and am going to listen again!

What a book!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great read, describing the sights, sounds (and especially the smells) of medieval travel. The journeys of pilgrims and merchants were often hazardous and many did not survive long sea voyages and dangerous overland treks. Those who did survive wrote of their experiences and we are the richer for it. This hugely entertaining book is well-written and performed. Highly recommended.

The Medieval Travel Show

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is such an extraordinary story of travel during great historic periods that bring the people and places up close and personal. The narrator is so lovely to listen to, he brings enough colour and enthusiasm without intruding on the narrative. In my top Three Narrators. Thank you! (The others are Simon Russell Beale and Sean Barrett)

Fantastic history and insights in a fascinating narrative.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.