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The Holy Roman Empire: A Thousand Years of Europe's History Paperback – 23 Feb. 2017

by Peter H. Wilson (Author)

4.2 385 ratings

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THE SUNDAY TIMES AND ECONOMIST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2016

'A definitive study of the amorphous state that lasted a thousand years ... The Holy Roman Empire deserves to be hailed as a magnum opus' Tom Holland, Daily Telegraph

'Engrossing ... staggering ... a book that is relevant to our own times' The Times

'Masterly ... If, like most people, you know little more about the Holy Roman Empire other than Voltaire's bon mot - "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire" - then this is the book for you' Daniel Johnson, Sunday Times

'A history that helps us understand Europe's problems today ... interesting and provocative, makes the complex understandable' Christopher Kissane, Guardian

A great, sprawling, ancient and unique entity, the Holy Roman Empire, from its founding by Charlemagne to its destruction by Napoleon a millennium later, formed the heart of Europe. It was a great engine for inventions and ideas, it was the origin of many modern European states, from Germany to the Czech Republic, its relations with Italy, France and Poland dictated the course of countless wars - indeed European history as a whole makes no sense without it.

In this strikingly ambitious book, Peter H. Wilson explains how the Empire worked. It is not a chronological history, but an attempt to convey to readers why it was so important and how it changed over its existence. The result is a tour de force - a book that raises countless questions about the nature of political and military power, about diplomacy and the nature of European civilization and about the legacy of the Empire, which has continued to haunt its offspring, from Imperial and Nazi Germany to the European Union.

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Masterly...Peter H Wilson condenses a great deal of modern scholarship while wearing his learning lightly. -- Daniel Johnson ― The Sunday Times

Wilson's history represents the culmination of a lifetime of research and thought, and in its scope and depth of detail is an astonishing scholarly achievement. The author moves from the grand themes to detail with felicity. -- Jonathan Steinberg ― The Spectator

As vast and capacious as the empire it describes, his book is as definitive a study of its subject as one could hope to read...The Holy Roman Empire deserves to be hailed as a magnum opus. -- Tom Holland ― The Telegraph

Wilson makes the complex understandable. -- Christopher Kissane ― The Guardian

Peter Wilson is to be congratulated on writing the only English-language work that deals with the empire from start to finish and on the basis of staggering erudition. He will not thank anyone for saying so, but it is also a book that is relevant to our own times. -- Brendan Simms ― The Times

From the Inside Flap

'Hugely impressive...Wilson is an assured guide through the millennium-long labyrinth of papal-imperial relations' Literary Review A great, sprawling, ancient and unique entity, the Holy Roman Empire, from its founding by Charlemagne to its destruction by Napoleon a millennium later, formed the heart of Europe. It was a great engine for inventions and ideas, it was the origin of many modern European states, from Germany to the Czech Republic, its relations with Italy, France and Poland dictated the course of countless wars - indeed European history as a whole makes no sense without it. In this strikingly ambitious book, Peter H. Wilson explains how the Empire worked. It is not a chronological history, but an attempt to convey to readers why it was so important and how it changed over its existence. The result is a tour de force - a book that raises countless questions about the nature of political and military power, about diplomacy and the nature of European civilization and about the legacy of the Empire, which has continued to haunt its offspring, from Imperial and Nazi Germany to the European Union.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 014104747X
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin; 1st edition (23 Feb. 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 1008 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780141047478
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141047478
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.95 x 4.57 x 19.56 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 29,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 3,769 in Arts & Photography (Books)

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4.2 385 ratings

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Customers find the book's history interesting and providing a decent overview of key events. They appreciate the good maps and genealogies that allow for deeper exploration. However, some readers feel the book is not well organized chronologically but thematically. Opinions differ on the scholarly content, with some finding it erudite and detailed while others consider it uninformative or useless as an overview. Readers also have mixed views on readability, with some finding it brilliant and captivating while others find it challenging to follow without prior knowledge of the subject.

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21 customers mention ‘History’17 positive4 negative

Customers find the history intriguing and engaging. They say it provides a good overview of key events and an excellent overview of the Empire. The maps and genealogies are helpful, as are the glossary, index, notes, and chronology.

"...The Empire was complex and changing covering separate and developing power structures, princely, feudal, and episcopal, urban and peasant...." Read more

"Thoroughly intriguing history!" Read more

"...That said, it is very interesting and gives an excellent overview of the Empire, and particularly how it shaped and influenced the formation of..." Read more

"...1,000 years of European history this book is both authoritative and interesting, well referenced throughout and balanced...." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Map quality’3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the maps and genealogies in the book. They find the areas interesting and allow for deeper exploration.

"...It runs to 686 pages, plus maps, family trees, a glossary, index, notes, chronology...." Read more

"As would be expected from this author, thoroughly researched. The maps are good and the genealogies very helpful...." Read more

"...His division into subject areas is interesting and allows for deep exploration of these areas, and also prevents the book falling into the trap '..." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Scholarship’3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's scholarship. They find it interesting and a work of scholarship.

"...I am glad to have read this masterwork in scholarship and feel my understanding of central European history much improved-- and strangely a better..." Read more

"...It presupposes a high level of knowledge. I'm sure it's a fantastic work of scholarship, but it's next to useless as a readable overview of the..." Read more

"Extremely interesting, and a work of scholarship.Needs to be read slowly and thought about. I wanted to know about the HRE as not something..." Read more

37 customers mention ‘Scholarly content’24 positive13 negative

Customers have different views on the book's scholarly content. Some find it comprehensive and well-researched, making a good case for studying the HRE as a way to understand current problems. Others feel the glossary entries lack useful information, the information is overly detailed, and the use of obscure intellectual terms makes it useless as a readable overview of the subject.

"...It runs to 686 pages, plus maps, family trees, a glossary, index, notes, chronology...." Read more

"...The thematic approach initally works well as shows how different key structures mattered (or didn't matter) and it explains the why it happened, but..." Read more

"...confidently into the main part of the book, which is a detailed survey of key themes that run through the empire's history, such as governance,..." Read more

"...Apart from some uninformative glossary entries, the author consistently does not, either before or after first using them in the text, define or..." Read more

33 customers mention ‘Readability’23 positive10 negative

Customers have different views on the book's readability. Some find it brilliant, erudite, and an enjoyable read about history. Others find it hard to follow, with parts reading like translations or pathology reports. The glossary entries are not consistently provided by the author.

"...Whilst an excellent book, it does come with some caveats and takes effort to make it through to the end...." Read more

"This is an extremely scholarly, erudite book which assumes a fairly good knowledge of the basic subject. It is not really ideal for novices...." Read more

"Excellent read and great value." Read more

"...regular reference to the maps and chronology, the thread can be difficult to follow...." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Book organisation’0 positive3 negative

Customers find the book's organization poor. They say it's not well-organized chronologically, but thematically, which is chaotic and underwhelming.

"...The biggest problem is that the book is not organised chronologically, but thematically...." Read more

"over long and simply not well organised enough...." Read more

"Chaotic and Profoundly Underwhelming..." Read more

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Peter Hargreaves
This is a great book, but not easy reading
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2018
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It should be read and re-read as a source book for further study.

It runs to 686 pages, plus maps, family trees, a glossary, index, notes, chronology. and lists of emperors, and German and Italian kings, The product of a lifetime’s study, it covers the thousand year existence of the Holy Roman Empire from 800 to 1806 but extends over a longer period from its antecedents into its historiography in subsequent German and European history. A thematic approach is adopted, covering law, society, territory and governance. This results in some repetition and, without regular reference to the maps and chronology, the thread can be difficult to follow.

The Empire was complex and changing covering separate and developing power structures, princely, feudal, and episcopal, urban and peasant. From it emerged the Alpine communities which became Switzerland. There also emerged Italian city states, the Hanseatic League and the Netherlands. Austria and Prussia from within the Empire included hereditary territory and power bases beyond its bounds. The rulers of England, Denmark, Sweden even Russia were all rulers of co-dominion territory, which at various times formed part of the Empire.

The concepts of empire, kingship and lordship are explained. The Holy Roman Empire and Papacy interacted and conflicted, but were interdependent. There wasn’t always an Emperor but the Empire continued. There wasn’t a dominant central city, medieval Emperors, based in different localities, progressing in person through its territories.

The Empire’s continuity provides alternatives to national history and the nation state and, through the EU, or what it becomes, a possible model for their successors

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12 people found this helpful

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A bookworm
Needs your complete focus to understand
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 May 2021
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This is a very exhaustively researched and comprehensive work which will definitely divide opinion with the thematic approach. Whilst an excellent book, it does come with some caveats and takes effort to make it through to the end.

The thematic approach initally works well as shows how different key structures mattered (or didn't matter) and it explains the why it happened, but it does at times obscure the when and the who. That said, the theme of each chapter perhaps works slightly chronologically in what mattered most at that time; who was king in the early days, before moving to territory, religion, law and reason. It also explains the importance of the Empire outside of 'national' histories. Its very vagueness and contradictions, alongside the idea of the Empire were often the reason that it survived until the seismic events of the Napoleonic Wars and the ideas it unleashed.

On the negative points, such is the scope of what is a millennium of Pan-european history, admirable though the effort is, I feel that two volumes have been better and it is only once you get to the very end of the book that all Wilsons arguments start to sink into place.

Whilst this is not as good as Europe's Tragedy, and if you preserve to the end, you will come away with a much better understanding of one of the mainstays of central Europe for over a thousand years.

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4 people found this helpful

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Andy Woodland
Excellent read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 February 2025
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Thoroughly intriguing history!

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I. Jones
Fascinating and detailed account of a major part of European history
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 January 2018
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This seems like a daunting book when you pick it up: weighty, small print, hundreds of pages of notes. However, I've just finished it and it's filled a massive gap in my knowledge of European history. Unless you already have a grasp of central European history, I suggest you read the 50 page chronology first. That will give you an overview of key events from the collapse of the western Roman Empire in the 5th century through to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Once you understand the chronology, you can dive more confidently into the main part of the book, which is a detailed survey of key themes that run through the empire's history, such as governance, national identity, justice, freedom, the relations between different parts of the empire and religion. Although much of the focus is on emperors, popes and princes, the author also give a great deal of information about what life was like for ordinary people. This is especially fascinating as you can see how much variation there was across time and space in terms of living standards, civil rights etc and the impact of catastrophic events such as war and plague. A couple of things stand out: one is how anachronistic it is to assume that people living 500 or 1000 years ago had some kind of modern "national identity" when in fact they and the land they lived on were the "property" of some toff who could sell them off to another toff to pay off a debt or provide a dowry. This applied to what is now the UK as well as the Holy Roman Empire. I learned that in 1194 Richard the Lionheart found it expedient to make England a vassal state of the HRE - never learned that in school. The second is how hard various groups struggled to achieve and hang on to "rights"; not universal rights, but rights for their village or town or for their trade, or for their social class. Fascinating to see how long it took for humanity to develop some idea of universal rights that could apply to all and be secured regardless of your gender, place of birth or trade. Finally, although the book focuses on the period from Charlemagne's coronation as emperor in 800 to Francis II's abdication in 1806, the author does briefly cover events after the end of the empire, such as German and Italian unification leading up to the creation of the EU.
NB I would also recommend Peter H Wilson's Europe's Tragedy about the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648. This is a key event in the history of the Holy Roman Empire, and is covered in this book, but Europe's Tragedy has far more detail, including a lot of information about England's involvement in the war, which was all new to me.

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7 people found this helpful

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Desdemona
Not for novices
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 May 2016
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This is an extremely scholarly, erudite book which assumes a fairly good knowledge of the basic subject. It is not really ideal for novices. That said, it is very interesting and gives an excellent overview of the Empire, and particularly how it shaped and influenced the formation of modern Europe.

I must say, it makes me very glad that I did not have to study German history at school!

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Carborundum
A comprehensive history of the Holy Roman Empire
Reviewed in the United States on 2 October 2022
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This is a very well researched and written book. It is a scholarly book that leaves nothing unmentioned, so be prepared for slow reading.

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Lizeth Vergara
Good
Reviewed in Canada on 11 July 2022
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Very good book.

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Reader
Everything about the Empire in one book
Reviewed in Germany on 14 July 2021
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The book is simply gigantic. Enormous. It talks in great depth about everything from the economy to perceptions of the Empire amongst its diverse subjects. If anyone is interested in the HRE this book would probably satisfy all your questions. The language issue could perhaps be explored more. I also recommend Bryce’s book on the HRE, which is somewhat simpler.

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Bart De Becker
Degelijk, maar droog.
Reviewed in the Netherlands on 25 November 2020
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Hoewel het uiteraard een oerdegelijk werk is, geef ik slechts drie sterren omdat ik op mijn honger ben blijven zitten. Ik hou meer van verhalende dan van analytische geschiedenis. Te droog voor mij.

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Gonzalo Carrasco
Engaging and erudite
Reviewed in Spain on 5 May 2017
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This is the best general history of the Holy Roman Empire that I am aware of. It is erudite, but completely accessible. It deals with history thematically as well as chronologically. It is captivating and thorough at the same time. It covers the latest scholarship and the most recent historiographical tendencies. It goes well beyond your standard introduction. This is very much worth reading.

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5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book, but not easy reading

4.0 out of 5 stars Needs your complete focus to understand

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and detailed account of a major part of European history

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for novices

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5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive history of the Holy Roman Empire

5.0 out of 5 stars Good

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything about the Empire in one book

3.0 out of 5 stars Degelijk, maar droog.

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and erudite

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This is a great book, but not easy reading

Needs your complete focus to understand

Excellent read

Fascinating and detailed account of a major part of European history

Not for novices

A comprehensive history of the Holy Roman Empire

Good

Everything about the Empire in one book

Degelijk, maar droog.

Engaging and erudite