We must pay tribute of commendation, without any reserve, to Mr. Taylor’s immense reading, which is nothing short of stupendous;…to his sane and sturdy judgment which seldom fails; and to his unfailing impartiality, from which he never swerves.
-- Spectator

None will question the book’s high qualities, or fail to be grateful to the author for his profound and sympathetic study of the Middle Ages.
-- E. K. Rand The Nation

No student of things mediaeval can safely neglect this interpretation of the ‘mediaeval mind.’
-- American Historical Review

It is safe to say that in the future no student of culture history, whatever his particular interest, can afford to ignore these pages. What Lecky has done for the history of European morals, Mr. Taylor has done for the intellectual and emotional history of the Middle Ages. In conclusion, a word of appreciation should be said in regard to the author’s copious, and often brilliant, translations of his illustrative extracts.
-- American Journal of Theology

A work of enduring value for everyone who wishes to understand the character, thoughts, emotions and aims of the men and women of the Middle Ages… Taylor traversed his centuries with an authority that comes only from great knowledge and he wrote with a warmth and liveliness that are given only to historians who are endowed with sympathetic imagination.
-- Saturday Review