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)

auctoritas

Barbara knows her biz. A keen historian with insight and color weaves a fascinating Web of eloquence on a fantastically complex and confusing epoch outside our modern purview

wonderfully detailed and deep

Wonderful look into one of the most calamitous centuries of human history. worth the read

A fantastic read

Would you consider the audio edition of A Distant Mirror to be better than the print version?

No, but still excellent.

What other book might you compare A Distant Mirror to and why?

Pillars of the Earth. Same time period with focus on the human condition.

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

No

A bit long

Barbara Tuchman is well known for her in depth research and historical analysis. This book is definitely in depth, covering 14th century events in France and England through the documentary evidence of the family of a French nobleman. In order for us moderns to understand the rather perplexing irrational behavior of the political leaders of the era, Tuchman goes into rather lengthy description of the culture of chivalry -which is necessary, though somewhat dull- to put things into perspective. This goes on for 6 whole chapters before we get to the main character. The reader was excellent. As far as I can tell, the research was excellent. The story was interesting, but went on for much too long. I enjoyed "The Guns of August" far more. I couldn't wait to finish this book.

great book

great book on darkest 100 years of history. barbara tuchman was a great writer.

Relive the action of the 100 years war

Great tale told with a lot of earnest discussion of the unpleasant side of history. The only complaint is the whining noise behind the voice a few places. I am guessing it is the old conversion from a cassette tape.

Detailing a slice from the Chronicles

A hefty slice selected from the time for our sampling. ?Were you intending to read Froissart? This is a convenient sample slice, combed out and detail supplemented for our modern comprehension. Bravo. My thanks to both the writer and the reader.

Tedious

Oh for a good edit! Overly detailed in parts, you’ll want to skip to the end of chapters.

Entertaining history of a brutal century

Loved this history book. It gave a good flavour of what life was like for various classes of people but obviously more information on the nobility and ruling classes. The source material is rich. Most of the history focuses on France and the Hundred Years’ War but also gives insight into England, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Byzantium. The narrator is a great story teller and is entertaining in her own right. A but dense at times but there’s a lot of ground to cover. Highly recommend

A great history and a well deserved classic

I have been looking for a history of the middle ages that encompasses everything, the people, the nobles, the church doctrines, the economy, well, this is it, and the fact that this was written by an American historian, made it all the more astonishing. I went and bought a hard copy because many of the names and places were in French and cannot be understood without the written copy. I wish all the history books could be written like this, 5 stars.