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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Fascinating book if you're interested in the history of the Middle Ages. While the narrative of the book is centered around the life of Enguerrand de Coucy, a French nobleman, you'll learn a lot about various aspects of life in the 14th century along the way, including the Hundred Years' War, the Black Plague, and so much more. The language used isn't always easy to digest but overall it's worth powering through.
This was a really interesting survey of the 14th century through the lens of the life of Enguerrand de Coucy VII, an extraordinary French nobleman. It provides insight into the world and culture of chivalric knights and the broader world of people from many social classes. It was, however, at times a bit dry. I never lost interest but sometimes lost the impetus to pick it back up again. Recommend the audiobook over actually reading it.
A thorough investigation into the late Middle Ages. Here’s another book I’d give 3 stars in print but closer to 4 on audio. On audio I could drift off and float through the more tedious of the unceasing battles that comprised the century. I relished Tuchman’s treatment of the Danse Macabre and of the fever-dream antics of Saint Catherine of Siena. George R.R. Martin must have studied the Middle Ages closely. In The Sunne in Spendour I saw the Lannisters and Starks plain as day; in this book the Mad King, the cult of the Sparrows, and the Battle of the Bastards. I’d never known how pervasive brigandage was during this period. Or that the concept of nationhood was merely nascent. Or that the women pined for in chivalry were always already married. Or that the word “villain” originally just meant “peasant.” Or a million other little things. The chief drawbacks were: 1) too many references to an endless array of nobles; 2) too many forgettable, fruitless small battles (unlike, say, the monumental absurdity that was Nicropolis – thankfully accounted in detail); and 3) Tuchman’s focus on the French nobleman Enguerrand de Coucy which limited the book’s scope to 1340-1400, made it feel a little disjointed, and probably accounted for some of the pitfalls mentioned in points 1 and 2. Still, I bet this blows most histories out of the water; after this I truly dread my inevitable attempt at reading The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire .
El mejor libro sobre historia de la Edad Media que he leído. Barbara Tuchman no sólo está obsesionada por rescatar los datos duros de una época. Su objetivo principal es revivir el espíritu de una época determinada a través de una escritura que lo hace accesible al lector. Fin.
PD: todos los elementos que me hicieron interesarme por la trama de A Song of Ice and Fire (las compañías libres, la estructura eclesiástica, las alianzas entre familias, la mentalidad del caballero etc. etc.) tienen un referente histórico. En este libro se encuentran todos ellos en acción.
PD: todos los elementos que me hicieron interesarme por la trama de A Song of Ice and Fire (las compañías libres, la estructura eclesiástica, las alianzas entre familias, la mentalidad del caballero etc. etc.) tienen un referente histórico. En este libro se encuentran todos ellos en acción.
Got about halfway through, and stopped because it seemed like it was going to offer more of the same: painstaking detail on the chronology of events and who's who in mid-to-late 14th century France and England. Was hoping for something of a point or argument, but I couldn't find it. I guess my interest in this particular part of history was not enough to carry me through this book.
I read this way back when in high school for one of my AP courses' summer projects. I had always romanticized to myself the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and this book seemed right up my alley...and it was.
The edition I read was a giant paperback from the library that had cracked in half and been salvaged with binding tape, it was one of those reads where you take extra care to absorb the words as you took extra care to not damage a book further.
Barbara Tuchman is a great historian, not stinting on the details and referencing her source material in a fashion that makes you itch to check it out for yourself. Her choice to focus on the Sire de Coucy as the center of the 14th century gives coherence to what otherwise is a slippery and fractured era of study.
The edition I read was a giant paperback from the library that had cracked in half and been salvaged with binding tape, it was one of those reads where you take extra care to absorb the words as you took extra care to not damage a book further.
Barbara Tuchman is a great historian, not stinting on the details and referencing her source material in a fashion that makes you itch to check it out for yourself. Her choice to focus on the Sire de Coucy as the center of the 14th century gives coherence to what otherwise is a slippery and fractured era of study.
Wow, she dense. I mean, she's a 600 page book chronicling 14th century Europe (so par for course?), but she's still dense.
A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century is the best medieval history book I have ever read, and just an amazing book overall. Tuchman explores the 14th century focusing on the life of one extraordinary man: Enguerrand Coucy (1340-1397), the 7th and last lord of the Coucy estates in Picardy France. Coucy lived through years of the Black Plague, The Hundred Years War, the Papal Schism, the Jacquerie revolts in France, the liberation of Switzerland and the advance of the Ottoman empire. He was taken as a prisoner of war by the English, only to marry King Edward's favorite spoiled daughter, Isabella. He was equal parts a warrior and a diplomat, a man valued for both his words and his actions. His story- and the story of the 14th century- is a captivating one.
I never thought I would say “wow, those 700 pages of 14th century history sure were fun” but here we are. Ready for my next dose of Barbara!
informative
slow-paced