The Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks)

Rating:
Summary: A synthetic resource
Review: Matthew's history is precise and helpful in arranging the massive amounts of information lying in archives throughout the whole of southern Italy and Sicily. His command of the languages necessary to conducting scholarship in this field is nothing short of extraordinary, and preceisely what Medieval Italian studies needs. His ability to synchronize the material into some navigable whole is easily seen almost every chapter. The only area which seemed a little lackluster was the art and religion chapter. I would have liked to see a little more information regarding the place of Norman art and architecture related to the Byzantine Empire, Venice and the West. However, I haven't run across so detailed a history yet, and will continue to use Matthew's book as a staple reference tool in the future.