German Literature of the High Middle Ages. Edited by Will Hasty. Camden House History of German Literature, vol. 3. Rochester, N.Y.: Camden House, 2006. Pp. viii + 338. $90.

Regardless of format, whether single-author or multiple-author, the writing of a literary history is a formidable and often daunting task and, I suspect, far less appreciated in our profession than ought to be the case. this is the third volume in a ten-volume series (edited by James Hardin) on the history of German literature, certainly a desideratum for the English-speaking world. It provides for undergraduates, graduate students, and non-specialists alike a welcome overview of major authors and "movements," and always against an invaluable cultural-historical backdrop. the present volume deals with one of the most impressive periods of literary productivity within Western civilization. together with an international group of eighteen colleagues, Will Hasty has offered a panorama of the first "classical" period of German literature (ca. 1170­1270), the Middle High German Blütezeit. the essays, of necessity, vary in length, and to some degree, also in quality, with several moving well beyond a basic introduction to their topic.

Winder McConnell
University of California, Davis