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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
Very well written and researched, but focuses too much on England and France for my liking, would have liked some of that old Holy Roman Empire romance.
Finished! It took a whole month and I was not ready for it to end when it did. I've never studied history in depth, and so I'm not sure quite what to say about this, except that I was blown away and immediately submitted an AskMetafilter question so I could find more books like this, as well as lectures, podcasts, etc. Planning to read Tuchman's other books on other eras when I can.
Can't say what part had the greatest effect on me - listening to this was like swimming in a deep, inexorable river of time, it just kept flowing. I was struck (cliche though this is) at how there is really not a thing new under the sun - the 100 Years War certainly puts current conflicts into some perspective. The epilogue actually made me a little teary, although it was sort of weirdly comforting, too. How easily the marks of individual humanity can be swept away to make way for something new. Nothing is ever really permanent.
Great book.
Can't say what part had the greatest effect on me - listening to this was like swimming in a deep, inexorable river of time, it just kept flowing. I was struck (cliche though this is) at how there is really not a thing new under the sun - the 100 Years War certainly puts current conflicts into some perspective. The epilogue actually made me a little teary, although it was sort of weirdly comforting, too. How easily the marks of individual humanity can be swept away to make way for something new. Nothing is ever really permanent.
Great book.
adventurous
challenging
informative
slow-paced
informative
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
A fantastic look into 14th Century Europe. Although written in the 1970s Tuchman’s work is still strong and I would argue the reflections from this distant mirror are even more recognizable in our post-Covid world.
Published in the late 70’s, this book is cited from time to time as a history recommendation. While I appreciated this book, I found myself stymied by the audio version as the narrator is one of my least favorite voice readers: the high pitched and heavily accented speaker is really difficult to understand at times spoiling what would otherwise have been a much better experience. In spite of that I would still like to read Tuchman’s WWI account and just hope it’s not the same voice narrator.
I'll admit to skipping ummm parts haha. Most interesting were the glimpses of every day life on both sides of the channel and the plague. Least interesting were all the parts that could use some editing. I think this is really a 300 page book in a 700 page skin. LOTS of lists of gifts and inventories that didn't need to be in there. LOTS of descriptions of petty battles between forgotten dukes and kings of smaller kingdoms. By the end I couldn't keep any of the bishops, popes, or kings separated. I think the author had a crush on the the duke of Cucy but unlike Erik Laarsen, the sections with him were the most boring. I think everytime she found a mention of him in any chronicle she nerd squeed and put him in. Overall, I learned a little bit about the middle ages, skipped enough that this probably shouldn't count toward my yearly goal, and found myself wishing for a second book about the middle ages that isn't this (cough) comprehensive.
