The Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages

Through his own choice of source material, the author of this book reconstructs the commercial life of the Middle Ages, giving the reader an appreciation of how energy resources, manpower and sheer ingenuity were applied to agriculture, light industry, the construction trades and mining. He also brings to life some of the great men of the period - the architect-engineers and other technicians whose genius anticipated many of the innovations credited to Leonardo and other luminaries of the Renaissance.