A Distant Mirror

The Calamitous Fourteenth Century

By: Barbara W. Tuchman

Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon

Length: 28 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

A “marvelous history”* of medieval Europe, from the bubonic plague and the Papal Schism to the Hundred Years’ War, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Guns of August

*Lawrence Wright, author of The End of October, in The Wall Street Journal

The fourteenth century reflects two contradictory images: on the one hand, a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry, and the exquisitely decorated Books of Hours; and on the other, a time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world of chaos and the plague.

Barbara Tuchman reveals both the great rhythms of history and the grain and texture of domestic life as it was lived. Here are the guilty passions, loyalties and treacheries, political assassinations, sea battles and sieges, corruption in high places and a yearning for reform, satire and humor, sorcery and demonology, and lust and sadism on the stage. Here are proud cardinals, beggars, feminists, university scholars, grocers, bankers, mercenaries, mystics, lawyers and tax collectors, and, dominating all, the knight in his valor and “furious follies,” a “terrible worm in an iron cocoon.”

©1978 Barbara W. Tuchman (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Beautifully written, careful, and thorough in its scholarship.... What Ms. Tuchman does superbly is to tell how it was.... No one has ever done this better." (New York Review of Books)

"Barbara Tuchman at the top of her powers.... A beautiful, extraordinary book.... She has done nothing finer." (Wall Street Journal)

Not what was expected

I’d first like to say that I believe this is my first ever review. I am disappointed because I wanted a look into this era’s society not the ruling class. Basically I got 28 hours of “this lord did this and that lady did that.” I had to read between the lines to get a glimpse of what the average person’s life was like.

To be perfectly honest I could have done without ever wasting my time on this publication. However I see where my own misunderstanding of the inaccuracies of recorded lead to my mistake in purchasing this title with the intent I had at the time.

Also, a bit of social commentary. The “nobles” of the past did not stand by the virtue they espoused at all but expected their subjects too. “Do as I say not as I do.”

Good book
Wrong book for me.

Amazing

A beautiful journey through the history of the middle ages that helps to understand the current world. Can I give it 6 stars?

Wonderful

Loved this history! Very detailed and interesting! Wonderful narration and writing. Glad I listened to it.

Accessible and Interesting

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Definitely! This is a very accessible look into a much over-looked period history. I came in with only the vaguest idea of this time in European history but I found myself quickly engaged.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Distant Mirror?

The Battle of Nicopolis sticks out to me because of its world-shifting consequences - unknown and unseen at the time. As the author rightly points out, Fall of Constantinople is often considered the end of an era; however, the real turning point was this battle. The following half-century was just the death throes of that world.

Have you listened to any of Nadia May’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to any of Ms. May's performances but I would gladly do so again. Her voice is clear, pleasant, and well-modulated. Her pace is very comfortable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would have loved to do that, however, the book is entirely too long for that.

Simply Incredible

Would you listen to A Distant Mirror again? Why?

I've listened to this book 4 or 5 times. It is that engrossing.

What did you like best about this story?

Where to begin? Seemingly every sentence contains a novel facts and the sentences woven into a beautiful tapestry.

What about Nadia May’s performance did you like?

Nadia May is terrific. She speaks with the author's authority.

Any additional comments?

This is a must have for anyone. Even if you have no interest whatsoever in medieval history, this book still a must have.

Engaging, entertaining, educational.

I can see that some people might discuss the organization, especially as you start the book. But at the end I think the focus and organization is fully justified - if only as a way to hold this much information in your head.

The majority of the content is based in western Europe as the concept is anchored to a person that lived for a large chunk of the century, was famous enough to have reference material to draw from, and not some extreme case or personality of the times. It kept the stories and context grounded. There is full acknowledgement of the "other" parts of the world and how they interacted. But the main discussion only extends as far as the focal point traveled to or interacted with those places.

What a fascinating time. The material is presented in a tempered way - judgement of customs and actions anchored in the time but also fair in judgement from a historical perspective. It continues to amaze that when you dive down into the daily life and resources or knowledge that people had available - the "craziness" of most times is relatable. The tools or speed or severity may be different...but people were and remain people driven by similar motivations.

The easiest comparison is the plague to the pandemic. People had the same confusion and fear in the beginning. Wanting to protect themselves but also help others. The spread back then took longer and counter measures were more extreme (though not more logical than some today). Today we might not burn a block to the ground with people inside, but we definitely close borders and kick people out. We follow theories of the moment just as they did - but now the theories change faster and spread wider. And some are based in actual science.

But fashion, politics, military ambitions, economics - same just without instagram, autonomous vehicles, or bitcoin.

Fantastic depiction of the 14th century

If you have an interest in the middle ages, and particularly in the social history of that time period, you absolutely have to read this book.

We are all familiar with the history books which describe the major battles of a particular time period or which concentrates on the political machinations. This book does this as well but with so much more.

If you want to learn how people dressed, what they ate, how much they were paid, how religion and war influenced their lives, what they died of etc, etc, then get this book now.
The best bit is that Barbara Tuchman doesn't just concentrate on the nobility. She covers all stratas of society from peasants to clerics, from dukes to brigands.

Some reviews have complained that this book spends too much time on the minutiae of daily life, but personally I think that this is the book's strongest point.
You actually get to know how people "really" lived during the 14th century.

The book does concentrate almost exclusively on western Europe, imparticular France. However, as so much of what happened in the 14th century centred around decisions and actions taken in what is now present day France this is perfectly understandable.

There is excellent coverage of the Black Death, the Papal Schism and of course the 100 years war.
We get a fascinating insight into how religion influenced daily life and what people actually believed and how much of that belief was actually practised.
Believe me, if you thought some of the scandals surrounding the Catholic church in the last few years were bad, you will be sobered when you here what they were up to during this time period.

My advice is not to get hung up on trying to remember all of the names of people and places covered in the book. Many of the names are similar and keeping track of interlinking families and alliances can often be tricky.
As long as you can keep track of the main characters its probably ok to let the rest just flow over you ... while you just enjoy absorbing the interesting titbits of information we are given along the way.

Personally I think the narration by Nadia May is the best ... note that a second version of the book is available from audible which is narrated by a different person.

There is no doubt that this book contains a massive amount of information. Some might find this daunting, but if you are really interested in life during the middle ages then you will lap it all up.

Enjoyable read

Tuchman is amazing as always . Also the narrator does a superb job of not losing you in potentially dense areas. Recommend if you’re interested in the period covered or just better understanding how we got the period in time we are in

One of the great historians of the 20th century

Elegant prose, a concise understanding of the source material, and an excellent storyteller, Barbara Tuchman List the shroud away from the Papel schism, the Black Death, courtly love, chivalry and all the other dominant themes of 14 century Europe, all while stitching together a biography of an influential French noble.

This is good but I think I need to read it

This is really interesting but sometimes hard to follow - maybe it wouldn't be for someone already steeped in 14th century history, but I found many times I wasn't sure what prince or king was being spoken about (often that's what was said - "the prince" or "the king" without a name) and since it's audio I couldn't just flip back a page to clarify for myself. There's a lot of really interesting stuff in this book about the lives of the people and the impact of war and plague, but it's very long and extremely detailed, filled with names of people who I wasn't sure where to place. For a book like this, I'd like to see a recording broken down into more tracks with titles so I could get more of a feeling for where in the narrative I was.