Several years ago Dr. Mark Johnson created the ”book essentials” page on thomistica.net. Dr. Johnson explains the ratio of this page as follows:
Of course no single book captures it all, but giving people a list of 50 books is of little help, too. So I let my thought-experiment be: “If I had to recommend ten books for someone starting out, what would they be?” The books listed below fit that bill for me; some of them are essential (e.g., Torrell’s two biographical books on Thomas), and others are reliable resources and introductions.
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One of the volumes on this list is Augustine Thompson’s extremely helpful book, Cities Of God: The Religion Of The Italian Communes (Penn State Press, 2005).
Just out with Cornell University Press is Fr. Thompson’s most recent book-length foray into the Middle Ages, Francis of Assisi: A New Biography.
According to early reviews, it looks like Fr. Thompson has produced yet another “book essential” for students of Medieval thought, life, and culture. Fruimini