The Bright Ages

A New History of Medieval Europe

By: Matthew Gabriele, David M. Perry

Narrated by: Jim Meskimen

Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

"Traveling easily through a thousand years of history, The Bright Ages reminds us society never collapsed when the Roman Empire fell, nor did the modern world did wake civilization from a thousand year hibernation. Thoroughly enjoyable, thoughtful and accessible; a fresh look on an age full of light, color, and illumination." (Mike Duncan, author of Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution)  

A lively and magisterial popular history that refutes common misperceptions of the European Middle Ages, showing the beauty and communion that flourished alongside the dark brutality - a brilliant reflection of humanity itself.

The word medieval conjures images of the “Dark Ages” - centuries of ignorance, superstition, stasis, savagery, and poor hygiene. But the myth of darkness obscures the truth; this was a remarkable period in human history. The Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its complexity and fundamental humanity, bringing to light both its beauty and its horrors. 

The Bright Ages takes us through 10 centuries and crisscrosses Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia, and Africa, revisiting familiar people and events with new light cast upon them. We look with fresh eyes on the Fall of Rome, Charlemagne, the Vikings, the Crusades, and the Black Death, but also to the multi-religious experience of Iberia, the rise of Byzantium, and the genius of Hildegard and the power of queens. We begin under a blanket of golden stars constructed by an empress with Germanic, Roman, Spanish, Byzantine, and Christian bloodlines and end nearly 1,000 years later with the poet Dante - inspired by that same twinkling celestial canopy - writing an epic saga of heaven and hell that endures as a masterpiece of literature today.  

The Bright Ages reminds us just how permeable our manmade borders have always been and of what possible worlds the past has always made available to us. The Middle Ages may have been a world “lit only by fire”, but it was one whose torches illuminated the magnificent rose windows of cathedrals, even as they stoked the pyres of accused heretics.  

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Does exactly what it claims to clarify

Laborious and written as if by or for high schoolers. It will age very poorly.
The contemporary snipes and obsession on minutae or strawmen is borderline insufferable.

The narrator is satisfactory.

Brilliant! (See what I did there? 😂)

So this is not the kind of book I would normally jump into, but it was time for a non-fiction and it sounded pretty interesting.

WOW! Very well done. Very readable. Reframes a completely misunderstood era into a far more nuanced and fascinating period. Not a super deep dive into medieval Europe, but more than enough to turn a passing interest into a rewarding appreciation of a time we typically breeze past with so many unfair misconceptions.

Brilliant, entertaining, careful

Absolutely brilliant. Very well written, careful use of sources with fascinating examples rarely cited in surveys. Love the use of Ravenna and Galla Placidia as a framing device. The last 2 chapters covering the material I know best are breathtakingly brilliant. I don’t think I know of a better discussion of the complexity of medieval urban communal life.

Distracted by a misplaced focus on neonazis

Perhaps it is inevitable for a book titled "the bright ages," but the constant looking to the present, I felt, undermined the sense of impartiality I want in a history book. I think this book is too obviously against the far right, and should instead have been content letting the nuance of the past speak for itself. The truth is fully capable of disproving any racist narrative without help.

However, if I could fully trust the history contained as being impartial, I would agree it is interesting and insightful. It would also read faster and smoother without the clunky and unneeded opinions.

Nice Historical Timeline

I learned many things I didn’t know, and it’s driving me to other research. The one odd thing is the author ties parallels to mid-evil misunderstanding to modern day white supremacy. Multiple times. But chose to never mention a much more relevant scenario which is Islamic extremism. I’d like to understand that.

Bright? Really?

The authors fail to make the case for the premise stated in the title. Sure, there were cultural and intellectual currents that trickled through from the Roman Empire to the Renaissance, but the era they describe was as brutal and greedy as you always thought - you might say like ours, minus the technology. One disappointment is that the book covers the exploits on the nobility, clergy and military, saying very little about the lives of ordinary people.

Something that interested me is that a lot of time in devoted to Louis IX of France, without ever referring to him as St. Louis. He didn't deserve the title, but as a resident of the eponymous city it got my attention.

A poor argument for a worse conclusion

A collection of anecdotes amounting to little more than "medieval people were people". It's thesis that the "dark ages" weren't "dark" is interesting in concept, but it isn't ever defined what is meant by "dark" or "bright" so it's impossible for the reader to assess the anecdotes it presents in terms of proving or disapproving that thesis, as it seems is intended. This leaves then as just that, a series of disconnected anecdotes that may be interesting in their own right but don't contribute to a larger narrative.

Amazing!

So poignant and necessary to our times. This book takes popular myth and toxic ideas and gently shows how they have no basis. Hope.

fantastic

This book did an excellent job at revisiting ideas we have about medieval history, examining different perspectives and revealing what the narrative you might have heard was trying to sell you (normally white- suprematism.) I can’t recommend this enough!

Decent history, tortured metaphor

This work contains several meaningful and interesting revisions to popular history. Overall it is a bit of a jumbled mess. The author does not devote effort to forming a chronological nor any other sort of framing mechanism. Somehow the book undoes itself by its breathless repetition of the idea of bright ages and it's incomprehensible overall structure. The age still feel like an opaque disaster.

Well read, except place names

Book content interesting, if a touch rambling.

Narrator struggled with English place names such as Hartlepool.

Superb history and enlightening

Brilliant take on the "Dark Ages". highly recommended even if mispronouncation of place names

Brilliant refreshing look at the " dark ages "

I absolutely loved this book and the excellent narration. Please ignore the anti-woke brigade and take the time to form your own opinion. Highly recommended.

A Rare Request for Refund From Me

I’ll tolerate a lot of bad narration for a good book and vice versa, but this manages to simultaneously be badly narrated and badly written; derivative while claiming to be original, obsessional and skewed in familiar ways while claiming to present a new point of view. I’ve heard better narration from mid-range text-to-speech software, too.

interesting but narrated badly

I don't recommend this as an audio book because the reading sounded as if it were read by a robot....maybe it was. The content was sometimes interesting and presented from a new angle which was pertinent to our times.