"The Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages"

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews the Jean Gimpel book about the industrial revolution of the Middle Ages, entitled "The Medieval Machine". The author of this paper maintains that Gimpel's work is especially timely, since Gimpel argued that America is going through the same things that Europe went through in the Middle Ages. The paper begins with a discussion of the themes of each of Gimpel's chapters. Then, the paper assesses Gimpel's writing style, calling it effective and engaging. Finally, the paper discusses Gimpel's thesis, concluding that it is compelling and convincing.

From the Paper:

"Gimpel's thesis is that America is going through, today, the same things that Europe went through in the Middle Ages and that by studying parallel histories we can learn more about the problems faced today. Strangely and sadly, though, Gimpel does not believe that the United States' problems can be solved. In the preface she states that "the depression we have moved into will have no end. We can anticipate centuries of decline and exhaustion. There will be no further industrial revolution in the cycles of our Western civilization" [xi].This leads me to ask why this book is important and what was the purpose of it being written, if not for suggestions on making changes to better the situation? Perhaps the point is to merely understand the entirely of the problem for a societal perspective."

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