11-02-2008, 12:41 AM
I would also recommend Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, with the caveat that it can be very challenging at times. It's a murder mystery at an Italian abbey in the early 1300s. The background is religious dissent, heresies, "witchcraft," and papal politics. Excellent book that gets into the medieval mind and really makes you appreciate our modern access to books and libraries.