A celebration of Eleanor Janega and Neil Max Emmanuel’s The Middle Ages: A Graphic History

In this film Eleanor Janega tells us about her new book, ‘The Middle Ages: A Graphic History’, illustrated by Neil Max Emmanuel. She tells us about the Eurocentric and Italian ways that history has been told, seeing the very concept of time periods as an Italian, imperial kind of ‘infomercial’. The idea of the middle ages, she explains, is defined by the so-called collapse of the Roman Empire at its start and the rise of the Italian Renaissance at its end. It is a period rooted in claims of origin for so many modern nations, as seen by the English fixation on 1066.

We also hear about how modes of travel and movement defined this period, from its roads and horses to its shipping lines and sailing logistics, and Eleanor discusses who does and doesn’t belong in this period, detailing a series of ‘others’, from women to Jews to queers.