• Preface to 1973 impression; Introduction; 1. The background; 2. The Greek East; 3. The Carolingian Age; 4. The Pre-scholastic Age; 5. The Scolastic Age; 6. Collapse an new beginnings; 7. The high renaissance; 8. The end of the renaissance and the appearance of new patterns in classical education and scholarship; 9. Education and the classical heritage; Notes; Appendices; Index.

'Mr Bolgar continually suppies concrete and fresh or unfamiliar information that makes the shadowy more substantial, and analytical comments that enrich or qualify or explode over-simple generalizations … There are few men who have the zeal, the comprehensive learning and the historical insight even to contemplate a single-handed work of such scope, and as a history and active reinterpretation of a great movement, Mr Bolgar's book is richly informative and illuminating.' Douglas Bush, Renaissance News