The Middle Ages are still with us, everywhere. Not just in the explosion of fantasy medieval like Game of Thrones, but imagery from the Middle Ages has also been co-opted approvingly by the Far Right, emblazoned on shields at Charlottesville, and even attached to the proposed wall on the southern border of the United States. But even more broadly, “medieval” is used to conjure the myth of the “Dark Ages” - an age-old tale of ignorance, superstition, stasis, and poorly-washed bodies. But it’s not true, and never was. The Bright Ages casts some much-needed light on the Middle Ages, telling a story of complexity, and of the period’s fundamental humanity. It confronts all the things people “know” about the Middle Ages with the most recent research made digestible and woven into a coherent story by two well-known medieval historians who work both in academia and journalism.