Justin Pickard reviewed A Companion to the Hanseatic League by Donald J. Harreld (Brill's Companions to European History, #8)
Serviceable overview
3 stars
Decent overview of the organisation, operations, and history of the Hanseatic League, pulling together and framing chapters on the early history, Golden Age, and decline of the Hanse, and, then, thematic contributions on Kontors (fixed Hanse enclaves within other towns) and trading outposts, social networks, and Baltic trade routes. Though the chronological history was perfectly readable (with two of these chapters translated from German), I found the second, thematic set of chapters of far greater interest, signposting further readings and avenues of inquiry.
Some contributions are a bit provincial or narrowly-focused; presumably as an effect of path dependencies in the configuration of the Hanse as a distinct specialism, and its concentration in the German-speaking world. The book's status as a 'companion' should moderate readers' expectations, as it sets out to provide an overview of the field as it stands, rather than getting bogged down in historiography, or pushing the boundaries …
Decent overview of the organisation, operations, and history of the Hanseatic League, pulling together and framing chapters on the early history, Golden Age, and decline of the Hanse, and, then, thematic contributions on Kontors (fixed Hanse enclaves within other towns) and trading outposts, social networks, and Baltic trade routes. Though the chronological history was perfectly readable (with two of these chapters translated from German), I found the second, thematic set of chapters of far greater interest, signposting further readings and avenues of inquiry.
Some contributions are a bit provincial or narrowly-focused; presumably as an effect of path dependencies in the configuration of the Hanse as a distinct specialism, and its concentration in the German-speaking world. The book's status as a 'companion' should moderate readers' expectations, as it sets out to provide an overview of the field as it stands, rather than getting bogged down in historiography, or pushing the boundaries of knowledge.