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A Distant Mirror
- The Calamitous Fourteenth Century
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 28 hrs and 38 mins
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A Distant Mirror
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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.”
Critic reviews
"Barbara Tuchman at the top of her powers....A beautiful, extraordinary book....She has done nothing finer." ( Wall Street Journal)
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What listeners say about A Distant Mirror
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- markw
- 02-04-07
Worth the investment of both time and money
When you buy this, you're signing up for (if you download the richest format) 4 100MB downloads, read by a lady with a middle class English accent and of a certain age. So be aware of what you're lettting yourself in for.
However, I found the book rewarding of the extended attention. Essentially, it tracks the career of one French nobleman, Enguerrand de Coucy, against the wider tapestry of the period of the black death of the papal schism and of the hundred years war. Somehow, de Coucy, the existence of whom I'm pretty sure nobody learned during their school history lessons, happened to be present, sometimes on the English side, latterly on the French, at almost all of the events you did hear about.
It's a clever device, and an effective retelling of Froissart's chronicles in the light of what we now know. It turns what starts out seeming dry into something thrilling and absorbing. I dearly wish, now, there was a volume from Tuchman to take us into the of the renaissance and the reformation.
More like this, please, Audible.
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20 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Annelli
- 16-02-07
A Distant Mirror
Okay, this is a very long book and, as the previous reviewer remarks, it is certainly full of information. Precise information, at that. He also calls it 'dry' but I disagree. I found myself quite absorbed by the parallels between present-day politics and warmongering and those of our ancestors. I'm not an academic and I admit I would have found sitting and reading so much detail hard going at times but (and isn't this the whole point of Audible?) when busy with mundane tasks that keep the hands occupied but leave the brain free, my ipod-transmitted history lesson worked very well. And I truly enjoyed it.
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39 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Caro
- 14-12-07
More please
Fascinating, with wonderful illuminating detail. I enjoyed it immensely.
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12 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- S. Hunt
- 18-08-15
Hit the spot
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I was interested in finding information about all aspects of life in the fourteenth century. This book provided that in full. Highly listenable, and never dull. Gave detail without ending up drowning in minutiae.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- William
- 04-02-24
The work of a great historian, but over- detailed
This is an undoubtedly impressive work. However the fine-grained detail is excessive. So much familiarity with the subject could have produced a more engaging work had the analysis been under thematic headings rather than a blow-by-blow chronological narrative
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- V. S.
- 11-03-13
Sublime
Had this book in my audible library for years and find myself constantly returning to it - a firm favourite. One of the best descriptions of the middle ages out there. I find it interesting that in all this time between then and now, nothing of a fundamental nature has changed very much. Calamitous times then - calamitous times now. Wonderfully woven, finely crafted, full of delicious detail - you get a real sense of the times and what it would have been like to live then. I don't normally like female narrators, but Nadia May was perfect for this book and she did a brilliant job. My favourite history book on Audible.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- daveo
- 21-06-23
Fascinating
Truly educational, mind expanding journey. The amount of detail was not a problem for me, but an asset.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Jim
- 14-07-11
Outstanding
Brilliantly conceived to combine the life of a central character with an overview of the peak and decline of European medieval culture. It's well narrated (don't care about her accent; she's always as clear as a bell) and at just north of 24 hours duration, excellent value.
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- WILSON
- 30-03-12
OK, but too many lists, and a poor narration
Although I enjoy audiobooks, I think I would have preferred to read this in print, for two reasons. Firstly because I could have skimmed over the endless lists - everything has to be listed in excruciating detail, from meals to armour to knights in a battle to... and so on. Other than that, the content is actually fascinating, with much of interest about a very turbulent century that, in many ways, had a major impact on the following three or four hundred years.
The other reason I think I would have preferred to read it was the narration, which frankly appalled me. First of all, it's a constant sing-song, with no apparent reference to what is being said: it sounded like Joyce Grenfell on acid. And secondly, so many of the words were wrongly or bizarrely pronounced. It really interfered with what should have been an enjoyable listen.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Clare
- 22-02-16
Can't recommend highly enough. Brilliant
Incredible details & very well researched & a very good insight, It's quite a ride & definitely worth it
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3 people found this helpful