A Distant Mirror

The Calamitous 14th Century

De: Barbara Tuchman

Narrado por: Aviva Skell

The Bubonic Plague of the 14th century killed one third of all human beings in Europe and Western Asia; many who survived the plague killed each other in the Hundred Years War that followed. What was it like to live in this calamitous century, when knighthood (and much more) died a violent death? Find out.

©1978 Barbara W. Tuchman (P)1984 Recorded Books

Masterful Portrait of a Tragic Era

Tuchman’s voice shines among the greatest historians in the English language. This book was an incredible journey.

Intermediate French

I wouldn’t recommend this unless you’ve got an intermediate grasp of French language and French history otherwise you’ll be left in the dust fairly quickly.

comprehensive

detailed yet concise for covering an entire century. my one complaint was the reader's pronunciation of the word, 'sire.' she pronounced it 'seer.'

Plague and Pillage, Bullies and Brigands

The 14th Century must have been a horrible time to live. Wars, riots, torture, massacres, plague, pillage and corruption were common. The lessons of Barbara Tuchman’s scholarly yet readable history led to one conclusion: people can be very bad!

I learned a lot of medieval history from “A Distant Mirror,” and what I learned did not offer hope. Royalty was often incompetent; the nobles were selfish and brutal, the peasants bigoted. Even a relatively decent and pragmatic man, like the central figure the Lord of Coucy, was capable of cruelty.

The book is very long. Too much was about battles I had never heard of, royal alliances that don’t matter today and nobles whose names are long forgotten. My mind often wandered as I listened, like, what’s for dinner tonight?

The narrator was clear, and her pronunciations of foreign names and words sounded right, but she read too quickly. That kept the book moving, but it made it more difficult to grasp who was doing what to whom.

so much information

incredible information, explored through one person's life as a great story and examination. listen twice.

History lives!

Tuchman not only makes the middle ages come alive, but through story passes on vital lessons we need today.

Long, Long, and Long

If you are a historian of the middle ages, this may be your ticket. A personal, family lineage type description of the 100 years war and more. The story is outstanding, but man, is it long.
I only wish there was a way to zero in on some historical time frame and listen bit by bit. But in the audio format it's only numerically labled.. all 70 plus of them.
Again, a great story, but you need a lot of patience listen day after day.

Very good

Excellent writing and excellent narration Bur very long. The story is good however a little goes a long way and it has to be listened to in pieces

Tedious

I had tried to read this book before and thought the audiio book would be easier. It was still a lot like reading an encyclopia...lots of names, dates, and places but no thread to make it relevant.

Great historical narrative

I’m not a history buff, but I found this book interesting and enlightening. The narrator was superb