Describe Out Of Books A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
| Title | : | A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century |
| Author | : | Barbara W. Tuchman |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 677 pages |
| Published | : | July 12th 1987 by Random House Trade (first published September 21st 1978) |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. Historical. Medieval. European History. Medieval History |
Barbara W. Tuchman
Paperback | Pages: 677 pages Rating: 4.08 | 29760 Users | 1283 Reviews
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What an extraordinary read it is when one book is as action packed as thirty riveting novels. And if it also contains rich and erudite disquisitions and is narrated in a language as clear and flowing as water from a spring, then the volume must be given a preferential place in one’s library.
I am not too keen of including quotes in my reviews. But given the amount of material that marshals in front of one’s eyes, as colorful as overwhelming pageants and breathtaking jousts, and as dense as the tightly woven wefts and warps of a tapestry, there is no way I could attempt to give a glimpse with my own words of what Barbara Tuchman has achieved with this book.
But before I present the quote, I would like to draw attention to how shrewd Tuchman has been in the choice of her subject. As she explains in her early pages, she set herself to follow one particular character as he lived during a period in history when the actors were on the count of hundreds, and thereby keep one's focus and walk through the maze and the turmoil without getting lost.
Enguerrand de Coucy VII was a member of the French nobility at a time when ‘French’ could also mean ‘English’. Enguerrand in fact acted as both French and English as he had acquired double allegiance: to his own King and to the King and father of his wife. And this he did when the two Kingdoms were at war; a war that would last for over one hundred years. Opportunely Enguerrrand is well documented by one of the most striking chroniclers of the time, Jean Froissart. As nothing had been written about him in English before Tuchman, she had found a gold vein for her research and pen to exploit.
Here stops my explanation. It is time now for the quote. This passage is better than an the Index to offer a glimpse to that Distant Mirror that Tuchman has approached to us for our close examination.
Since he (Enguerrad de Coucy) had first marched at fifteen against the English, and at eighteen hunted down the Jacquerie, the range of Coucy’s experience had extended over an extraordinary variety of combat, diplomacy, government, and social and political relationships. As son-in-law of Edward III, holding double allegiance to two kings at war, his position had been unique. He had seen war as captain or one of the to command in eleven campaigns—in Piedmont, Lombardy, Switzerland, Normandy, Languedoc, Tuscany, northern France, Flanders, Guelders, Tunisia, Genoa; he had commanded mercenaries, and fought as ally or antagonist of the Count of Savoy, Gregory XI, Hawkwood, the Visconti, the Hapsburgs, the Swiss, Navarrese, Gascons, English, Berbers, the Republic of Florence, and nobles of Genoa. As diplomat he had negotiated with Pope Clement VII, the Duke of Brittany, the Count of Flanders, the Queen of Aragon, with the English at peace parleys, and the rebels of Paris. He had had one temperamental and extravagant wife eight years his senior, and a second approximately thirty years his junior. He had served as adviser and agent of the two royal Dukes, Anjou and Orléans, as Lieutenant–General of Picardy and later of Guienne, as member of the Royal Council, as Grand Bouteiller of France, and had wtice been the preferred choice for a Constable. He had known and dealt with every kind of character from the ultra-wicked Charles of Navarre to the ultra-saintly Pierre de Luxemburg.If to the above adventures, narrated ever so smoothly, one is to add the excellent studies of various chapters of Material Life in late Medieval Europe, that help us to shorten the Distance of the Mirror and make reflections become what is reflected, then one can begin to imagine the sheer pleasure that this book offers to whoever decides to open up its pages and read it.
As it is often claimed, Tuchman may not be a historian of the academic breed, but in this account she has demonstrated her excellent narrative abilities that many historians and novelists would just love to command as well as she.
Brilliant.Details Books In Pursuance Of A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
| Original Title: | A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century |
| ISBN: | 0345349571 (ISBN13: 9780345349576) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | France |
| Literary Awards: | National Book Award for History (Paperback) (1980), ASJA Outstanding Book Award (1980), National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for General Nonfiction (1978) |
Rating Out Of Books A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
Ratings: 4.08 From 29760 Users | 1283 ReviewsNotice Out Of Books A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
This is just a reaction for the 4 or 5 chapter revisit I made back to this excellent history. Having read the entire decades ago, and also having used it for some reference referrals for others at different times, I wanted to read again about the cracks appearing in serfdom, the agriculture crisis, the disease factors (especially the percentage numbers for Italy in decimation from Plague). And also and most importantly, the change in the Papal and Nobel rationalizations toward rights and"If the [century] seemed full of brilliance and adventure to a few at the top, to most they were a succession of wayward dangers; of the three galloping evils: pillage, plague, and taxes; of fierce and tragic conflicts, bizarre fates, capricious money, sorcery, betrayals, insurrections, murder, madness, and the downfall of princes; of dwindling labor for the fields, of cleared land reverting to waste; and always the recurring black shadow of pestilence carrying its message of guilt and sin and
The Four Horsemen had their way in the fourteenth century. Tuchman portrays a brutal decadent European society terrorized and demoralized by the plague, war, violence and deprivation. She focuses on France, England and the Italian city-states from 1350 to 1400. The religious leaders were hypocritical and profane; the aristocracy was arrogant and venal. Kings, nobles, popes and prelates accumulated fantastic wealth at the expense of everyone else for whom it was the worst of times. The century
The Calamitous 14th Century: a time of war, class struggle, taxation, endless litigation, ravaging disease, religious intolerance, Christian versus Moslem, feckless leaders, plenty of lust, torture, self-interest -- 'a distant mirror' indeed. We are not so different. Look back or just look around.And that is the point, I think, of this wonderful work of history and literature. Tuchman's wit and erudition are on full display.Sometimes the reading went very slow, but only because it all seemed so
"If the [century] seemed full of brilliance and adventure to a few at the top, to most they were a succession of wayward dangers; of the three galloping evils: pillage, plague, and taxes; of fierce and tragic conflicts, bizarre fates, capricious money, sorcery, betrayals, insurrections, murder, madness, and the downfall of princes; of dwindling labor for the fields, of cleared land reverting to waste; and always the recurring black shadow of pestilence carrying its message of guilt and sin and
One way to get a grip on some history is to take on the personalities of the day. Read around Richard III and - love him or hate him - along the way youre not only going to get into the foreground detail of the Wars of the Roses, youll begin making some sense of the backstory of the Plantaget dynasty. Its the same with Barbara Tuchmans terrific idea of approaching the war and politics of 14th century Europe, through just one man - Enguerrand de Coucy - whose lifetime fits so perfectly with the
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