Big Ideas. Bizarre Beliefs. Blunders & Breakthroughs.

From medieval monks to Renaissance rebels, humanity kept the flame of knowledge alive-sometimes by candlelight, sometimes by bonfire.

In this smart, irreverent, and unexpectedly optimistic sequel to

From Cave to Colosseum, Scott Edwin Williams charts our uneven crawl out of the so-called Dark Ages. Meet the polymaths, philosophers, poets, plague victims, and pious priests who collectively rebooted civilization.

Along the way, you'll encounter bumbling crusaders, overzealous inquisitors, rebellious peasants, and Cedric, the very unlucky plague doctor.

This isn't a textbook: It's a sideways look at the big ideas-scientific, spiritual, educational, and cultural-that shaped a thousand years of history.

SOME MOVED US FORWARD. SOME DRAGGED US BACK.

AND SOME, INEXPLICABLY, DID BOTH.

LIGHT THE CANDLE. ILLUMINATE THE WORLD.