- Paperback: 677 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books Inc.; Reissue edition (1 Sep 1991)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345349571
- ISBN-13: 978-0345349576
- Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 3.4 x 21 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 169,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
"Wise, witty, and wonderful . . . A great book, in a great historical tradition." Commentary
The 14th century gives us back two contradictory images: a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry, and a dark time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world plunged into a chaos of war, fear and the Plague. Barbara Tuchman anatomizes the century, revealing both the great rhythms of history and the grain and texture of domestic life as it was lived.
The 14th century gives us back two contradictory images: a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry, and a dark time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world plunged into a chaos of war, fear and the Plague. Barbara Tuchman anatomizes the century, revealing both the great rhythms of history and the grain and texture of domestic life as it was lived.
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First Sentence
Codiacum, supposedly derived from Codex, codicis, meaning a tree trunk stripped of its branches such as those the Gauls used to build their palisades. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Codiacum, supposedly derived from Codex, codicis, meaning a tree trunk stripped of its branches such as those the Gauls used to build their palisades. Read the first page
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Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Barbara Tuchman transports the reader from the present world to fourteenth century France where we witness the contradictions, the decline and ultimately the self-destruction of the age of chivalry. We travel on a journey, via the life of a unique French nobleman, to world characterised by conflict and fear. In a world of political ambition, terror, inequality, and exploitation we learn of the great events of the age including the schism of Rome, the great plague, the crusades and the wars with England and other states. Barely surviving was the lowly peasant despite exploitation by state, church, landowner and mercenary alike. A historical tour de force.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
How interesting can a history of the 14th century be? Extremely!
Barbara Tuchman has an easy reading style which transports the reader into life in 14th century life in England and France. Her vehicle of choice, Enguarrand VI, makes the book palatable and dispenses with the usual "hohum way of writing an historical tome."
The reader is taken on a voyage through this period and is exposed to the trauma which was the normal life for the peasant, and the obscenity, which was the excesses of nobles and kings alike.
A highly recommended book for someone daunted by the thought of reading an historical account. This truly makes easy and excellent reading for all. We are educated by stealth such is the manner in which Tuchman entiwnes us in her story.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a wonderful, rich and absorbing read, covering all aspects of the 14th century in great detail. I read this deliberately fairly slowly, in order to savour it. The focus on Coucy at times seems slightly forced and means, from the point of view of the English reader, that there is relatively little coverage of English history (e.g. only about 7 pages on the Peasants' Revolt). But Coucy does bridge France and England through his marriage to one of Edward III's daughters and, as he also campaigned in Italy, Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia Minor, his choice as a focus is understandable from the point of view of covering a broad sweep of location.
Only a few minor points of real criticism: the maps were wrongly placed within my edition and there could have been a few more. The book could also have done with a chronology and probably genealogical tables of the French royal family in particular.
Only a few minor points of real criticism: the maps were wrongly placed within my edition and there could have been a few more. The book could also have done with a chronology and probably genealogical tables of the French royal family in particular.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
History Revealed
It's a few years since I read this. I have read quite a few historical books since and this is. The most interesting and informative!
Published 2 months ago by Wjcox
A piece of History
Very exciting to receive an old hardback book in good condition, very quickly, at a low price.
The first quarter of the book has copious notes written in pencil in the margin... Read more
The first quarter of the book has copious notes written in pencil in the margin... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Graham
NOT AS BAD AS ALL THAT
Barbara Tuchman was an American historian who wrote about several different periods. She was not a specialist and not a medievalist, though she was a fine historian (see... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Stephen Cooper
A well written account of a fascinating period of history.
Barabara Tuchman uses the life of the French nobleman Enguarrand VI to explore the 14th century. In doing so she covers amongst other things, the Black Death, the start of the... Read more
Published 13 months ago by steve b
absolutely first-rate reconstruction of our medieval soul
This is a wonderfully readable and engrossing book on the period that marked us more deeply - as the source of so many of our touchstone images and ideas - than just about any... Read more
Published 13 months ago by rob crawford
A Horrific Century
Barbara Tuchmann's review of the 14th Century in Europe was first published over 30 years ago but it is still much more readable than most books on the subject. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Ron Ball
A brilliant overview of 14th century Europe
I have read other books on 14th century Europe in the past, but none which bring the century alive in all it's glory, depravity and horror like this book. Read more
Published 20 months ago by K. Maxwell
One of my all time top ten books
I have quite a wide range of book interests - history, thrillers, sci-fi, comedy - but this book ranks in my all time top ten books, probably in the top five. Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2007 by Mr. Elliot P. Renton
A Fascinating Read
Having never studied history, or read about it in any great detail, upon being recommended this book by a friend I was somewhat unsure what to expect. Read more
Published on 10 Sep 2003 by Ricolas
A truly engrossing introduction to the middle ages
This book made me interested in history. The book is part biography part textbook. It follows the life of the Comte de Courcy a french noble more important than the king of france. Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2002 by "g_monkey"
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