From Memory to Written Record: England 1066 - 1307, 3rd Edition

"Thought-provoking and wide-ranging . . . one can assert confidently that it is one of the most exciting books on medieval English history to appear in recent years." History

"Many familiar assumptions about the medieval world will have to be reconsidered in the light of this book. It is impossible to convey its range or the variety of its implications, but it is possible to insist on its importance." History Today 

"Clanchy's work will stand as a remarkable piece of scholarship and as a massive contribution to our understanding of the medieval world." Journal of Library History

Reviews of the second edition:

"Just as 'From Memory to Written Record' was the touchstone for the revolution in the study of medieval literacy and power in the 1980s, the second edition will be a sustaining forece in the continuing revolution of the 1990s'. " Patrick J Geary, University of Notre Dame

"'From Memory to Written Record' is one of the those seminal works that shape the direction of the next generation of historical and social thought. This second edition will remain one of the major works on the medieval world for many decades to come." Norman F Cantor, Late of New York University

Michael Clanchy's widely-acclaimed study of the history of the written word in the Middle Ages remains a classic work in medieval studies. In this third edition Professor Clanchy presents his latest thinking on the subject in a new introduction covering recent work on literacy studies. He has also updated the further reading section and revised the references to take account of recent publications. These changes preserve the coherence of the original argument whilst also ensuring the book remains current for a new generation of scholars and students.

‘After nearly four decades in print this monument of twentieth-century historiography has lost none of its imaginative and rhetorical power. Imbued with human insight and unrivalled in its deep understanding of the record- and narrative sources of post-Conquest England, Professor Clanchy’s book continues to educate, inspire, and challenge its many readers. The third edition brings the volume up to date for a new generation and will be welcomed by teachers and researchers across and beyond the Anglophone world.’—Julia Crick, King’s College London

‘From Memory to Written Record is half an invaluable handbook of sources – still without any modern competition – and half an imaginative investigation of the complex mix of surviving oral modes and the way they coexist with and are transformed by the written word.  Enjoy and learn!’—Paul R. Hymns, Cornell University

"In 1979, Clanchy's From Memory to Written Record launched an entirely new field of enquiry. Taking full account of the wealth of new research it stimulated, this third edition will be equally indispensable to the next generation of students and teachers.’—Julia M H Smith, University of Glasgow