This volume forms the third part of one of the finest general introductions to the medieval world of prevailing times. Lavishly illustrated, with numerous accompanying maps and charts, each of the three volumes presents a synthesis of scholarly research and interpretation, translated from the original French and revised thoroughly for an English speaking readership. Volume III covers the close of the Middle Ages, an era of crisis, plague, famine and civil strife, and yet also - towards its end - of vigorous economic and colonial expansion, intellectual renewal and religious reformation. Full coverage is given not only to Western Europe, but also to the Byzantine and Islamic worlds, whose artistic heritage is displayed in several of the colour plates. A bibliography is appended as an aid to further study, whether by the general reader or by teachers and students of the period. The two further volumes, on 350-950 and on 950-1250, are also available. The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Middle Ages is also sold as a three-volume boxed set.