The Dark Ages: 476-918

By: Charles Oman

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 19 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

The Dark Ages is the story of the birth of Western civilization. It was a harrowing crucible of war, destruction, and faith. For over 100 years, Charles Oman's famous history has remained one of the finest sources for the study of this period. Covering a period of 500 years and an area stretching from Northern Germany to Egypt, this is the definitive history that will alter your conceptions of a period of history that gave birth to the civilization we live in today.

Table of contents:

Chapter 1: Odoacer and Theodoric, 476-493
Chapter 2: Theodoric King of Italy, 493-526
Chapter 3: The Emperors at Constantinople, 476-527
Chapter 4: Chlodovech and the Franks in Gaul, 481-511
Chapter 5: Justinian and His Wars, 528-540
Chapter 6: Justinian (Continued), 540-565
Chapter 7: The Earlier Frankish Kings and Their Organisation of Gaul, 511-561
Chapter 8: The Visigoths in Spain, 531-603
Chapter 9: The Successors of Justinian, 565-610
Chapter 10: Decline and Decay of the Merovingians, 561-656
Chapter 11: The Lombards in Italy and the Rise of the Papacy, 568-653
Chapter 12: Heraclius and Muhammed, 610-641
Chapter 13: The Decline and Fall of the Visigoths, 603-711
Chapter 14: The Contest of the Eastern Empire and the Caliphate, 641-717
Chapter 15: The History of the Great Mayors of the Palace, 656-720
Chapter 16: The Lombards and the Papacy, 653-743
Chapter 17: Charles Martel and His Wars, 720-741
Chapter 18: The Iconoclast Emperors: State of the Eastern Empire in the Eighth Century, 717-802
Chapter 19: Pippin the Short: Wars of the Franks and Lombards, 741-768
Chapter 20: Charles the Great: Early Years, 768-785...Conquest of Lombardy and Saxony
Chapter 21: The Later Wars and Conquests of Charles the Great, 785-814
Chapter 22: Charles the Great and the Empire
Chapter 23: Louis the Pious, 814-840
Chapter 24: Disruption of the Frankish Empire: The Coming of the Vikings, 840-855
Chapter 25: The Darkest Hour, 855-887: From the Death of Lothair I to the Deposition of Charles the Fat
Chapter 26: Italy and Sicily in the Ninth Century, 827-924
Chapter 27: Germany, 888-918
Chapter 28: The Eastern Empire in the Ninth Century, 802-912
Chapter 29: The End of the Ninth Century in Western Europe: Conclusion

Public Domain (P)2016 Audio Connoisseur

She’d light on the Dark Ages!

I really enjoyed this book. Great narrative history! And the reader was excellent… Highly recommend

Great listen

Well narrated, solid information. Wide breadth and scope of the time period. Would highly recommend.

Dark Ages

For audio a chapter list with brief synop of theme. Found the names for most part unknown.

Well done narration for an old text

It doesn't explicitly say this in the description, but this book was published in 1893 and focuses primarily on western Europe. The point of view is very British as in: the attitude towards Muslims and Catholics is very 19th century Anglican. As one might expect from a book covering 500 years, the majority of the book focuses on the most famous names and dates, with little side comments thrown in. It is a good overview, but feels dated.

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A Classic, well narrated

The fact that this work is a classic cannot be denied. But Charlton Griffin’s passionate narration makes the work all the more enjoyable

Oman covers history of Europe before middle ages

Nobody today likes the term "dark ages", but historians certainly had their reasons for calling this period of the first millennium as dark. From the fall of the Roman empire to the rise of Christendom there were many factions contending for power, but little was being done to move humanity forward. Oman is a bit more readable than Gibbon. The audio narration is well done, but the serious student may prefer the text due the number of similar names used during this period.

Meh

Very much a war by war survey. Less meat than I would have liked. I am told this review needs more words.

Great but dry listening

It’s basically a very well recited list of major events that occurred in the Dark Ages. In some sense, it was exactly what I was looking for bc I felt that era was unknown to me.

The narrator added some funny intonations on the insults of certain historical figures. I enjoyed it but zoned out at parts.

Great production with some questionable content

Wonderful narration and detailed coverage. The history is focused on Christendom and is very unfavorable to other religions. I still recommend this audio book to anyone with the interest and time but any future listeners should understand the bias of the publication.