A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

'A fascinating look at the follies of mankind regarding conflict and wars. As I read the book I regretted that Ms. Tuchman was not around to observe the ultimate folly of Iraq and Afghanistan. Following the tragedy of 911 when the powers that be decided that the country needed to go to war in Iraq despite the fact that the real culprits of the attack were located in Afghanistan. This seemed to me to be ultimate folly.

At forest I had a hard time figuring out why Ms. Tuchman chose the three events -- the fall of Troy, the Renaissance popes, and the British loss of the American Colonies -- as follies prior to the Vietnam war. By the time I finished I felt that Ms.. Tuchman had made the connections. quite strongly.

Sweeping in its story,it's history written like a brilliant novel. Any accolades I would bestow would not do justice to it. As it is an older book, I can merely say if you haven't already read it,give yourself the pleasure

I bought this believing it was specifically written about the Black Death. It was not and I was disappointed. However it was well written and informative on the City-State bishopric system of the time.

A masterpiece of factual detail. This is a book for dedicated historians. One can easily get lost in the seemingly less relevant minutiae, but I eventually emerged from the morass with a deep understanding of humanity's less than stellar performance during this horrifying period of history. Fortunately rereading the introduction and the epilog helped me see the forest through the trees.

This is a fascinating, useful, insightful book. Tuchman shows us how political leaders over the millenia have consistenly made decisions that were not in their own interest, even though they had the option to do otherwise. I couldn't help but relate it to poor, self destructive decisions that organizations make, hurting themselves when they don't have to. Tuchman didn't write a business book - she wrote a fabulous history book - but it gave me more business insights than any business book I've read in a long time.

every politician should be made to read this brilliant book. Barbara Tuchman was a living national treasure, she gives remarkable insights in this book that help us all whether politico, businessperson or just thinking adult.

Interesting interpretations of some critical periods in world history.
Though not an exact historical research it is read without stopping. The most interesting part is the description of the Vietnam fiasco.

Interesting interpretations of some critical periods in world history.
Though not an exact historical research it is read without stopping. The most interesting part is the description of the Vietnam fiasco.

Tuchman thoroughly describes the repeated presence of folly, that is, actions repeatedly taken despite ample evidence that the current political action (or inaction) is disasterous. This book should be required reading for educated citizens. The contemporary willful blindness to global warming is a powerful example of folly. Perhaps by attending to the lessons Tuchman describes will lead to corrective actions.

If you think our world is complicated and hopelessly mislead, try this.

The 14th Century was terrible, and Barbara Tuchman turns it into art of the highest order.

She is in the top tier of American historians.

Tuchman is a brilliant historian who explains similar behavior behind the fall
of dynasties throughout history. No one learns from history that is why we are
committing the same mistakes that doomed the empires, dynasties and powers
before us. No one solves problems, they just line their pockets and lie about it.
We are now led by a wide ranging assortment of criminals whose greed and lust
for short term profit and power doom us.

I am currently reading this book and really like much of the detail. The writing is excellent and the "story" engrossing. However, I have read enough other books on the Middle Ages to catch some of the discrepancies within this book itself. ("The Victory of Reason" by Stark, several books by Cahill - "hinges of history" series - online articles by math professor and amateur historian James Franklin, and many other new books that have reevaluated the supposed "Dark Ages").

Tuchman has claimed several times basically how the basic credo of this period was that "progress on Earth" was impossible - life was brutal and short and the Church stressed salvation and Heaven as the real goal.

This just was not true - in an overall sense. And Tuchman points out the many kinds of progress that HAD already occurred, including the foundations of secular university curricula included along with theology in all those universities the Catholic Church had founded and funded.

In one sense much of the peasantry did lead rather hopeless lives and their local Priests had to treat that reality as best they could, but the upper levels of the Church and the state - and the growing middle class certainly did believe in progress here on Earth and worked toward it.

Perhaps Tuchman knows this and was just a tad careless in spelling it out - but it did seem a tad glaring to me. I would certainly recommend reading this book to anyone, but I would not consider it the most all encompassing view of the history of that age and place. And I would hope those interested would read some of the newer "reevaluations" of the "Dark" and Middle Ages.

Barbara Tuchman is a master of both narrative and analytical history without boring the reader.She tells her stories with color and with interest, offering the reader a perspective that provides a new viewpoint. She pulls the reader out of the 21st century and puts them square in the middle of the century and time about which she is writing. She gives you an understanding of the times that made men and the men that made the times. She offers you portraits of the major and minor personalities that make you feel as if you know them and lived around them. Her "March of Folly" brings to front stage the stupidity of man's actions in creating history: past, present and unfortunately our potential future.

The book provides an excellent perspective relating to the unrelenting ability of civilization to see the facts presented to them, have all of the information supplied to make an informed course of action, and then inexcusably make the completely incorrect choice. Barbara Tuchman presents this in a style that exhibits a level of intellect uncommon to most and in a manner that is, for the most part, unbiased. The book is extremely informative and entertaining at the same time. I would recommend this as required reading for both the historical educational value it provides as well as a prophecy of continued policy which continues to doom so many current and future endeavors.

I originally read this book more than 20 years ago and the context, unfortunately still applies to the calamity that seems to be our inherited natural instinct as humans. All one has to do is look around the world today and ask the simple question .... why did we do that? Hasn't changed since the days of Troy and I suspect it never will. It is for this reason that I feel this book should be a prerequisite for anyone continuing their education or simply going through the struggle we call life in general.

Outstanding and fascinating survey of a violent century few ever give a thought to, the century that saw the bubonic plague wiping out a third of Europe, the Hundred Year's War between France and England, and which served as a prelude to the Age of Discovery, the Reformation and the Renaissance. .

Barbara Tuchman is such an outstanding writer. She synthesizes a great deal of historical information and presents it as an approachable, interesting story. My only difficulty with her writing is that she assumes a lot of knowledge of history that I, as her reader, don't always have, so I am encouraged to look into more and seek more information about historical events, which can be a challenge. I found that I would stop reading this book and turn to something lighter for a break and then return to the challenge of continuing my reading of "The March of Folly.". I've been curious about Viet Nam for many years since I lived through that period in American history as a young adult and had trouble gaining a realistic perspective on all the events leading up to and during the Viet Nam war. I have learned so much through reading this book and I know that although this is my first Barbara Tuchman book, it definitely won't be my last.

When we Homeschooled our kids, we looked for "Living History" books to read. This one fully meets my standards. It tells the story of the 14th century, from the perspective of a man who was actually there. THis kind of book helps us realize that people, making decisions, create History. A very good read. Ms. Tuchman makes History come alive. It only get's 4 stars because, when everything is said and done, this is a history book.

In spite of being written several decades ago, this book is still relevent to the world today. Mrs. Tuchman was an intelligent interpreter of world events and world history, and this book is an incisive analysis of the "follies" of the past. Certainly several new chapters could be added, since history does, indeed, repeat itself. Tuchman is an author who seems to have fallen out of favor among contemporary historians, but she deserves to be required reading for every history 101 class beginning college. It would be even better to require her in high school, but the sad state of American education makes that unlikely. She's always a pleasure to read.

The Middle East Is Vietnam Repeated over again. Read the section of this book covering the folly of what got us into Vietnam and what it cost us in terms of lives and suffering and loss of trust in our government and its leaders. Plus an astronomical waste of money that could have been used for the much better purpose. Compare it to what's going on today. déjà Vu! Another clueless government policy and no clear goals or objectives handed down from administration to administration across party lines. It's eerie.
A well documented book.

Another CD of a Barbara W. Tuchman history. I love her style. This was even better than "A Proud Tower." I have really enjoyed listening to this narrative of the century of the Black Death and Hundred Years War.

Barbara Tuchman is an extremely detailed and descriptive historian, having published numerous, well received books on a wide variety of subjects. In this tome, she examines "The Calamitous 14th Century", through the eyes of a French nobleman of the era, Enguerrand de Coucy.

In selecting Enguerrand, Tuchman has identified a well documented, strategically placed, typical upper class French noble man who as fate would have it, was directly involved in many of the seminal events of the era. While in some cases we have documentary evidence of this, due to the scanty published record for the era, Tuchman is forced to concede that in others, it was possible that he, or others very much like him took a part. Thus we have the Forrest Gump of the 14th century.

While much of the history from the era is fascinating (in a train wreck, grisly kind of way), the detail involved turns at times sleep inducing. Where many references are treated in other accounts to a paragraph, the same events consume pages and chapters in Tuchman's history. This is not an indictment on Tuchman, however it turns parts of the book into a work resembling a text book as opposed to strictly pleasure reading. As I do most of my reading at night, I can gauge my interest by whether or not I read late into the night. In this case, many times I found myself nodding off after 20-30 minutes; not an endorsement.

Having read a number of accounts and histories from the era, I had a relatively sound background and familiarity with many of the actors and regions covered by this book. Those encountering both for the first time, however, will likely find themselves dazzled by the names, titles, shifting alliances and impenetrable family trees of those involved. This is not an indictment on the author as much as a hazard for anyone seeking to bring some sense to the subject. It is hideously complicated at times.

In a nutshell, if you are a serious student of history, particularly the era surrounding the Hundred Years War, this is the book for you. If you're looking solely for entertainment, read Pillars of the Earth.

This is the historiographical equivalent of a Brueghel painting about life in a village. Life in calamitous times is described in all detail.
Main scourges were the war between England and France, the papal schism, the last disastrous crusades, and the plague epidemics. A terrible time.
BT's main theme is the sheer stupidity and callousness of the ruling classes, the courts, nobles, knights, church leaders. They deserved every uprising and revolution that they got.
French knighthood is singled out as one of the dumbest groups of people that humanity ever contained.
If there is anything about the 14th century that you always wanted to know, you find it here. I bet.
Knighthood and all aspects of a knight's life, the 100 Years War, statehood vs. church, church malpractices like pardon sales, the popes in exile in Avignon, the lower clergy, the plague, the crusades, anti-semitism, flagellants, medical science of the times, law enforcement, Paris, universities, bandits, peasants and their uprisings, French kings and their strange family affairs, English kings and their strange family affairs, other kings, sexuality, especially women's, fashion in clothes and shoes, literature, food and food orgies, Swiss resourcefulness, the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (which, by general assumption, was not holy, not Roman, not an empire, not German, and not a nation), demonology, sorcery, inquisition, saints, guilds, workers' associations, etc etc
By the way, the book is also a sort of biography of a man that I never heard of, Enguerrand de Coucy, who lived through half of the century and died near its end. Coucy is drawn as a bright shining exception to general ineptitude, but still caught in the time's mind set and habits.
As not boring as it is possible to be.
However: I find the "mirror" metaphor a little overstretched. Yes, the century was a mess and very interesting, as was the 20th, but was it really a mirror for people looking back from the 20th? BT hardly every really goes into that. Anyway, we never learn from history. Or do we?

Barbara Tuchman has done a remarkable job of describing the life of both the rich and poor in 14th century Britain and Europe. The intrigues between the kings, religious leaders (especially the Popes) and the knights are elegantly described in detail. I recommend this book highly for all history buffs.

Initially I bought this book to gift a history student who requested it. Before I could give it to him I started to read it and became so captivated that I kept the book and bought him another book!
What was wonderful about this history was the way Tuchman brought together the social,
economic, religious and artistic influences of the period and how the Black Plague
disrupted life throughout Europe. This book is not for those who want a light, quick
overview. There are many footnotes supporting the work. The few times where the references were few or non-existent, Ms Tuchman tells the reader those parts and how she dealt with it.

While reading on a plane a woman beside me commented that some books are merely to be read, while "this book is to be read, chewed and digested." She was right. This book opened up the 14th century like no other. One note of warning; the papacy and what was going on with the Catholic Church during this time was quite an eyeopener and this may explain some of the low marks by some reviewers.

An interesting, entertaining, enjoyable read. What do men really know? We are expected to act whether we know or not. I think discussion of some of the motivating forces as to why habits persist and what it is men are trying to avoid by acting rashly and greedily would enlighten this topic further.

Though written before 1989, what this book, by a recognised and outstanding author, shows by its description of the facts leading to America's war in Vietnam is far more relevant today to the major issues of our Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It should be read by every American over 17 years old, if America is going to stop its suicidal march towards folly.

A fascinating survey of Europe in the 14th century through the lens of one man. Well-researched and surprisingly thorough, this book shows us a Europe in flux. It is a time I was only vaguely familiar with before reading but I definitely interested now.

This era showed the beginning cracks and the genesis of the upheavals which would rock Europe in the ensuing centuries. Here are the birth pangs of the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the French Revolution.

I would recommend this book to any history buff. It is interesting that you can Google earth France and still see the remains of Coucy's castle. I bought this book when it first came out but had to leave it when I moved back east. It can be somewhat heavy reading at time so I also got the audible version and finished it that way. It is amazing the toll that the Black Death played on the world in the 14th Century along with other calamitous events. Ms. Tuchman clearly draws a rich picture of the times.