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Original Title:	A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
ISBN:	0345349571 (ISBN13: 9780345349576)
Edition Language:	English
Setting:	France
Literary Awards:	National Book Award for History (Paperback) (1980), ASJA Outstanding Book Award (1980), National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for General Nonfiction (1978)

A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century Paperback | Pages: 677 pages

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Title	:	A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
Author	:	Barbara W. Tuchman
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Deluxe Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 677 pages
Published	:	July 12th 1987 by Random House Trade (first published September 21st 1978)
Categories	:	History. Nonfiction. Historical. Medieval. European History. Medieval History

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What an extraordinary read it is when one book is as action packed as thirty riveting novels. And if it also contains rich and erudite disquisitions and is narrated in a language as clear and flowing as water from a spring, then the volume must be given a preferential place in one’s library.

I am not too keen of including quotes in my reviews. But given the amount of material that marshals in front of one’s eyes, as colorful as overwhelming pageants and breathtaking jousts, and as dense as the tightly woven wefts and warps of a tapestry, there is no way I could attempt to give a glimpse with my own words of what Barbara Tuchman has achieved with this book.






But before I present the quote, I would like to draw attention to how shrewd Tuchman has been in the choice of her subject. As she explains in her early pages, she set herself to follow one particular character as he lived during a period in history when the actors were on the count of hundreds, and thereby keep one's focus and walk through the maze and the turmoil without getting lost.





Enguerrand de Coucy VII was a member of the French nobility at a time when ‘French’ could also mean ‘English’. Enguerrand in fact acted as both French and English as he had acquired double allegiance: to his own King and to the King and father of his wife. And this he did when the two Kingdoms were at war; a war that would last for over one hundred years. Opportunely Enguerrrand is well documented by one of the most striking chroniclers of the time, Jean Froissart. As nothing had been written about him in English before Tuchman, she had found a gold vein for her research and pen to exploit.





Here stops my explanation. It is time now for the quote. This passage is better than an the Index to offer a glimpse to that Distant Mirror that Tuchman has approached to us for our close examination.

Since he (Enguerrad de Coucy) had first marched at fifteen against the English, and at eighteen hunted down the Jacquerie, the range of Coucy’s experience had extended over an extraordinary variety of combat, diplomacy, government, and social and political relationships. As son-in-law of Edward III, holding double allegiance to two kings at war, his position had been unique. He had seen war as captain or one of the to command in eleven campaigns—in Piedmont, Lombardy, Switzerland, Normandy, Languedoc, Tuscany, northern France, Flanders, Guelders, Tunisia, Genoa; he had commanded mercenaries, and fought as ally or antagonist of the Count of Savoy, Gregory XI, Hawkwood, the Visconti, the Hapsburgs, the Swiss, Navarrese, Gascons, English, Berbers, the Republic of Florence, and nobles of Genoa. As diplomat he had negotiated with Pope Clement VII, the Duke of Brittany, the Count of Flanders, the Queen of Aragon, with the English at peace parleys, and the rebels of Paris. He had had one temperamental and extravagant wife eight years his senior, and a second approximately thirty years his junior. He had served as adviser and agent of the two royal Dukes, Anjou and Orléans, as Lieutenant–General of Picardy and later of Guienne, as member of the Royal Council, as Grand Bouteiller of France, and had wtice been the preferred choice for a Constable. He had known and dealt with every kind of character from the ultra-wicked Charles of Navarre to the ultra-saintly Pierre de Luxemburg.

If to the above adventures, narrated ever so smoothly, one is to add the excellent studies of various chapters of Material Life in late Medieval Europe, that help us to shorten the Distance of the Mirror and make reflections become what is reflected, then one can begin to imagine the sheer pleasure that this book offers to whoever decides to open up its pages and read it.






As it is often claimed, Tuchman may not be a historian of the academic breed, but in this account she has demonstrated her excellent narrative abilities that many historians and novelists would just love to command as well as she.


Brilliant.

Rating Based On Books A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

Ratings: 4.08 From 29760 Users | 1283 Reviews

Judgment Based On Books A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

One way to get a grip on some history is to take on the personalities of the day. Read around Richard III and - love him or hate him - along the way youre not only going to get into the foreground detail of the Wars of the Roses, youll begin making some sense of the backstory of the Plantaget dynasty. Its the same with Barbara Tuchmans terrific idea of approaching the war and politics of 14th century Europe, through just one man - Enguerrand de Coucy - whose lifetime fits so perfectly with the

If Time Travel becomes possible I will not be signing up for tours of the 14th century.The fourteenth century was a step back in the flow of history. Europe was slowly rising up from the dark ages only to descend into confusion.Many things disrupted this time such as;the Bubonic plague, which overturned the feudal system,the Hundred Year's War,the many petty wars against neighbors,antisemitism,the Papal Schism,the Jacquerie revolts,peasant uprisings,and the start of a mini Ice Age.Interesting

I have been a Tuchman fan for years but put off reading this book because it concerned a period of history of which I was not particularly interested. Wrong!!! Chock full of details, it fills in all the details of a bloody, unenlightened time in history where war for no justifiable reason was the norm, crusades against distant lands were the epitome of a knight's duty, and the Black Death was decimating half the world's population.As usual, the author has done extensive research and although it

I still remember reading this book when it first was published. It is another readable and accessible history by that great non-academic historian Barbara Tuchman. I first encountered her work when I read The Proud Tower so my expectations were high. That they were exceeded suggests that this is a work to which I should return as I seldom do for non-fiction. In this ambitious book she explores the tragedy, political intrigue and occasional dark comedy that surround the infestation of the Black

Just started. Looks interesting ...Well, it IS interesting, but kind of dry, as at least one other reviewer has noted. It's going to take a while!Continuing to enjoy this book as the author is doing a fine job of combining the informative with reading pleasure. So far it's a bit like reading a sci-fi account of a far-away alien planet and it's weird but familiar culture! Jack Vance-like indeed ...The Black Plague - why can't we have one of those, only more virulent and untreatable? Steve King



I'm not quite sure how I came to read this strange and unwieldy book. It just kept popping up in my sights. For a while now, I've had a boyish fascination with the Middle Ages, intensified by a couple of years spent studying Old English in grad school, and nursed along since then with occasional books about the Black Death, the Crusades, castle building, and whatever else seemed interesting to me. Most of what I've read has been deeply thought-provoking, on the one hand, if somewhat tiresome to