Created within a thousand-year span in the Middle Ages, 12 illuminated manuscripts—including the Book of Kells, Carmina Burana, and the oldest copy of The Canterbury Tales—shed light on their world and on the modern era. In this Wolfson History Prize winner, Christopher de Hamel introduces us to kings, saints, artists, librarians, and thieves, while tracing the journeys that these precious artifacts have made. Offering intriguing commentary, De Hamel explains how these books became embroiled in politics, how they have been regarded as objects of beauty and as symbols of national identity, and how we know who has owned them.