Originally published by Charles Scribners' Sons, 1974.'The perspective from which [this book] has been written is that of world history; the conviction determining its focus, that of Western cultural peculiarity or singularity; the belief suggesting its unifying theme, that it was during the medieval period - in particular, during the centuries from the eleventh onward - that the foundations were laid on which the edifice of Western cultural peculiarity was subsequently erected.'From the Introduction