Take a photo of a barcode or cover
evamadera1 's review for:
A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
by Barbara W. Tuchman
I really wish that we had the options to give half stars. If that were the case, I would give this book a 3.5 star rating. I really did like the book but not quite enough to give it four stars.
I found the subject fascinating but too much. Tuchman bit off, in my opinion, just a bit more than she could chew. At the beginning of the book she stated her basic outline for the book, as a good historian should. Since the study of a particular century is far too much for any one book, Tuchman chose to limit the book to the events occurring within the lifetime of one particular character. (She did indulge in a bit of discussion of the years just beyond either end but that's understandable.) She also described in great detail her search for a character that was prominent enough to have a decent amount of data extant but not an especially prominent character such as a king or queen. I admire her effort but think that her noble goals were not quite reached. Her character (I have no idea how to spell the French since I just listened to the audiobook rather than read it in print) was, after all, married to the King of England's daughter. In my book that makes him pretty prominent.
The biggest thing that bothered me, is that Tuchman often strayed far outside the guidelines that she set for herself at the beginning of the book. (Specifically here I'm referring to her self-imposed limitation of the book's scope to the life of one particular character.) She often spent several chapters discussing events occurring concurrently but not directly or even indirectly related to the "main character."
That being said, Tuchman does a masterful job corralling the many diverse details surrounding the 1300s. She inspired a desire within me to learn even more about this era which in my book is an extremely positive sign.
I highly recommend this book despite my lackluster rating. Only Tuchman's failure to live up completely to the goals she set at the beginning of the book lost her that star. :)
I found the subject fascinating but too much. Tuchman bit off, in my opinion, just a bit more than she could chew. At the beginning of the book she stated her basic outline for the book, as a good historian should. Since the study of a particular century is far too much for any one book, Tuchman chose to limit the book to the events occurring within the lifetime of one particular character. (She did indulge in a bit of discussion of the years just beyond either end but that's understandable.) She also described in great detail her search for a character that was prominent enough to have a decent amount of data extant but not an especially prominent character such as a king or queen. I admire her effort but think that her noble goals were not quite reached. Her character (I have no idea how to spell the French since I just listened to the audiobook rather than read it in print) was, after all, married to the King of England's daughter. In my book that makes him pretty prominent.
The biggest thing that bothered me, is that Tuchman often strayed far outside the guidelines that she set for herself at the beginning of the book. (Specifically here I'm referring to her self-imposed limitation of the book's scope to the life of one particular character.) She often spent several chapters discussing events occurring concurrently but not directly or even indirectly related to the "main character."
That being said, Tuchman does a masterful job corralling the many diverse details surrounding the 1300s. She inspired a desire within me to learn even more about this era which in my book is an extremely positive sign.
I highly recommend this book despite my lackluster rating. Only Tuchman's failure to live up completely to the goals she set at the beginning of the book lost her that star. :)