Following contemporary approaches and current trends in historiography, the book in 18 papersdeals with the history of Slovene and neighbouring territories in the Middle Ages, and Slovene historiography related to the period. It makes the medieval history of this part of Europe accessible to the widest range of researchers.

Dieter Seibert gives advice on hut approaches and essential grading and technical considerations, and then provides descriptions of the classic ascent routes of all the main peaks. The glaciated ranges of the Eastern Alps encompass the Bernina and Silvretta ranges of Switzerland, the Ortler/Adamello groups on the Austro/Swiss/Italian borders and all the main Austrian groups - the Otztal, Stubai, Zillertal and Gross Glockerner. Even the far flung Dachstein and Marmolada ranges have small glaciers. All the main peaks in these ranges involve glacier approaches and thus become technical mountaineering expeditions, requiring proper skills and training.

The book deals with the Slovene historiography and history of the Slovene and neighbouring territories in the Middle Ages. It is the first work of its kind published in English. It thus makes the medieval history of this part of Europe and some of its fundamental problems accessible to the widest range of researchers. It contains 18 papers which comply with modern methodological approaches and current trends in historiography and it puts the validity and usefulness of these methods to the test in the case of “Slovene” material and examples. The first part of the book critically examines Slovene historiography, which largely viewed the Middle Ages from a national angle. The second part is dedicated to early medieval history, focussing on issues of Slavic ethnogeneses, society, and political structures. The third part addresses chapters from the history of the Church, the nobility, and the formation of Länder, and also discusses the famous enthronement of the Carinthian dukes.