Book Journal: The Year 1000

A wonderful and accessible little ditty of history full of enticing facts and British charm.


The Year 1000: What Life was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger

First, let me speak to the effectiveness of this book's presentation.  Playing off of the Julius Work Calendar, the authors have twelve chapters that detail how life was like during that specific month. 

There's a lot of religious history in here, which makes plenty of sense: life in 1000 AD was extremely religious, and any accounts of life from that time, if not from a nobleman or king's court, were from the monasteries and clerics.  The heartstrings tug whenever Lacey and Danziger--with clear remorse--woefully remind the reader that King Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries destroyed hundreds of years of history. Details on food, the Celtic Fringe (what a cool thing! I didn't even know that!), the idiosyncrasies of the kings of the past, and the constant threat of Vikings and Germanic tribes are in great form here. 

As someone who loves expertly blended works of geography and history, I did enjoy this.  There are some very weird areas of the world that have piqued my interest: Northern Europe, especially the British Isles, circa this time; Siberian Russia and other very cold climes; The Great Plains of the US from 1800-1940; and the Scramble for Africa. 

A quick read at 200 pages, full of wonderful voice, fact, presentation, and information. Part of me wants to go watch Braveheart now. 

Rating: 8/10