Rating: 
Summary: Living the 14th century
Review: "A Distant Mirror" is a detailed, well written and mostly engrossing political, cultural, religious and social history of Europe in the fourteenth century. It comes as close as any history of the period to imparting a sense of what life was like, at all levels, in western Europe through plagues, wars, and the vicissitudes of everyday living. While the book claims to focus on one life in order to tell the history of the period, it works poorly as biography. The story of Enguerrand de Coucy is more of an excuse for delving into the period and is, in itself, more sideshow than main attraction. This is just as well, for the full cast of characters, kings, princes, lords, popes, cardinals, priests, merchants, farmers, and so on are all so fascinating that the story glides along. At times the book does suffer a little from its verbosity. It could have used a little paring down. Nonetheless as a whole it is a remarkable achievement, and well worth it for anyone interested in European or medieval history.
Rating:
Summary: Living the 14th century
Review: "A Distant Mirror" is a detailed, well written and mostly engrossing political, cultural, religious and social history of Europe in the fourteenth century. It comes as close as any history of the period to imparting a sense of what life was like, at all levels, in western Europe through plagues, wars, and the vicissitudes of everyday living. While the book claims to focus on one life in order to tell the history of the period, it works poorly as biography. The story of Enguerrand de Coucy is more of an excuse for delving into the period and is, in itself, more sideshow than main attraction. This is just as well, for the full cast of characters, kings, princes, lords, popes, cardinals, priests, merchants, farmers, and so on are all so fascinating that the story glides along. At times the book does suffer a little from its verbosity. It could have used a little paring down. Nonetheless as a whole it is a remarkable achievement, and well worth it for anyone interested in European or medieval history.
Rating:
Summary: Polished and Shiny
Review: "A Distant Mirror" is about as entertaining as a history book can get. Barbara Tuchman is a captivating storyteller, and it speaks for the quality of her narrative history of France in the 14th century that the book remains in print after 25 years. The red thread that runs through her book is the folly, pride and irrationality of behavior that she sees as characteristically human: "For mankind is ever the same and nothing is lost out of nature, though everything is altered," as the quote from John Dryden says on one of the first pages of the book. The title itself reflects this philosophical position: the 14th century as a distant mirror for the 20th century. To be honest, I found this a bit far-fetched. The two centuries do not share that many similarities. Of course, human nature as such has not changed in the course of six centuries, and the madness of the two world wars is comparable to that of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). But the 20th century, for example, saw no epidemic like the plague that killed off more than one third of the population; on the contrary, the discovery of penicillin in 1928 and its application as an injectable drug in 1941 improved the chances of surviving a serious illness dramatically. More importantly, the 20th century did not see the first signs of disintegration of an established political order that would later give rise to a new one (the replacement of feudalism by the nation state); on the contrary, democratic states successfully withstood the challenge from totalitarian systems. Where the book really shines, is the narrative. Barbara Tuchman gives a vivid and detailed picture of life in the 14th century, in particular the life of the nobility. She does not leave out the scandals or the slaughter of battles, the machinations of nobles greedy for power and the suffering of the peasants. Her style is descriptive and detailed. She does not simply tell that, say, realism was the desired effect of miracle plays and mysteries staged for the populace in the 14th century, she shows it in unforgettable detail: "When John the Baptist was decapitated, the actor was whisked away so cunningly in exchange for a fake corpse and fake head spilling ox blood that the audience shrieked in excitement."(311/312) Her style is also not without the occasional wink at the reader. A fine example for her subtle sense of humor is the list of possessions of the Duc de Berry (famous for the illustrated book "Les Tres Riches Heures" he commissioned): "He owned one of Charlemagne's teeth, a piece of Elijah's mantle, Christ's cup from the Last Supper, drops of the Virgin's milk, enough of her hairs and teeth to distribute as gifts, soil from various Biblical sites, a narwhal's teeth, [and some more unique curiosities]"(427). While I found the story telling absolutely captivating, there are two things about "A Distant Mirror" that made me choose four rather than five stars. One is the lack of analysis, the other Ms. Tuchman's occasional lapses into pop psychology. The peripheral role of analysis in the book is perhaps a consequence of her narrative style. While Ms. Tuchman feasts on descriptions and details, she does not really want to dwell on the technicalities of changes in technology (other than those in the art of battle), medicine and economics, or on theories that try to put these developments in a broader perspective. At its worst, the reluctance to use analytical tools produces a kind of historical mysticism: "Times were to grow worse over the next fifty-odd years [after 1400] until at some imperceptible moment, by some mysterious chemistry, energies were refreshed, ideas broke out of the mold of the Middle Ages into new realms, and humanity found itself redirected."(581) The lapses into pop psychology happen when Ms. Tuchman generalizes; for example, when she concludes, "Human beings of any age need to approve of themselves, the bad times in history come when they cannot."(451) Or when "pride and folly" become driving forces of history, because "Vainglory, however, no matter how much medieval Christianity insisted it was a sin, is a motor of mankind, no more eradicable than sex."(577) On the whole, though, "A Distant Mirror" is a pleasure to read, and I am sure the book will continue to find readers who enjoy the colorful and vivid stories Ms. Tuchman unfolds about the "calamitous" 14th century.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating and Objective View of the 14th Century
Review: A Distant Mirror is a worthy addition to Barbara Tuchman's reportoire of historical works. She brings to life the events of 14th century Europe and exposes chivalry and the church for what they really were: Corrupt people subjugating the population of Europe. She uses the life of Enguerrand de Coucy as the centerpiece of her treatment of the times. A prominent, but historically obscure noble, Coucy is shown vividly in all his elegance at court and bloodthirstiness in slaughtering peasants who attempted to assert their freedom. No one can come away from this book without seeing the 14th century in human terms. Ms. Tuchman's work, as are all of her books, is a challenging read. Her grammar, although impeccable, is complex and imaginative. Not for the light reader, but fascinating for anyone who wants to learn about history without sugarcoating or nationalistic slanting.
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF TUCHMAN'S BEST
Review: A wonderful bit of historical writing. I am a big Tuchman fan but must admit that her ability to get "history acedemics" all in a snit, adds to my delight in her work. I have always felt that the common, everyday sort of guy, like myself, can glean much more from the so called "popular history writers" than they can from a stack of a thousand PhD rantings which end up filed away in a forgotten cabinet in must university storage room. I highly recommend this one.
Rating:
Summary: A rare jewel in the crown of History
Review: Barbara Tuchman does a masterful job of sifting through reams of medieval manuscripts to create this fascinating portrait of 14th century Europe. First, I had no idea that there was still so much original material for a historian to work with. Second, I didn't realize how much could be gleaned from reading between the lines of these precious documents. Tuchman delves beneath and behind the recorded words to shine a light on the truth of living in that calamitous time. It was a century in which the Black Death and the Hundred Years' War combined to demoralize and radicalize a weakened populace. It was a century in which the pillars of society, both secular and religious, seemed lethally pervaded with corruption and incompetence. It was a time of peasant revolts that prefigured the popular revolutions of the 18th century and a time when the Church's utter lack of spirituality set the stage for the 16th century reformers. Yet it was also a century of crusading heroes and prophetic witnesses, in which national identities were solidifying.
Tuchman focuses on a single figure, previously unknown to me, who found himself at many of the critical events of the century. Le Sire de Coucy, thoroughly a man of his time, exemplified the great strengths of his day and (to a lesser extent) its weaknesses. Proud, noble, courageous, discreet and intelligent, Coucy is the epitome of the knight in shining armor, in a time when the virtues of that calling were more sung about than lived. I came away from "A Distant Mirror" with a great admiration for this previously anonymous "chevalier."
Tuchman calls the 14th century a mirror of the troubled 20th century. The parallels were less clear to me, and this is the sole weakness of the book. We will have to see whether the calamaties of the 20th century (genocidal world wars, global economic disruptions, decolonialism) will set the stage for a wholesale power shift on the part of present-day society.
That said, "A Distant Mirror" is a sparkling jewel of the popular historian's art, bringing to life a time and place that are otherwise known only through myth and romance.
Rating:
Summary: A Medieval History Must-Read!
Review: Famous for her engaging, narrative style that makes history flow like a thrilling novel, Barbara Tuchman presents a comprehensive review of 14th century Europe (mainly France, the dominant European power at the time). She emphasizes three main events that dominate the lives of Europeans in the 14th century: the Plague, the Hundred Years' War and the Papal Schism. Despite this large-scale vision, she also succeeds in bringing this "distant mirror" as close to the reader as possible. One way she does this is by following the life, as much as possible, of one man, neither extraordinarily good nor evil but nonetheless very capable and active, whose name is Enguerrand VII, Lord of Coucy. He was a shrewd and practical politician as well as courageous warrior, and his life spanned most of the 14th century. As conqueror, mercenary, crusader and diplomat, he was active all over the known world of medieval Europe and participated in most of its historic moments. This means the historian's case study is not limited to one country or culture and makes her research more comprehensive and accurate as well as interesting. The only difficulty I had with the book was its maps. Just for the ease of reference, I had wished the maps were all located in one place. Otherwise, I couldn't hope for a better and more enjoyable account of medieval Europe!
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Book by a Brilliant Mind
Review: I have to admit that Barbara Tuchman is one of my favorite history authors and it was this book that introduced me to her. This book tells the truth about that time period, a time of turmoil, illiteracy, wars, bloody mercenaries roaming and pillaging. A lot of people when they think back to this time period they have these romantic notions of dashing knights, damsels in distress, wonderful luxury and refinement, and noble wars. These people are totally ignorant of the subject and time and I would definitely recommend for them to read this book to open their eyes to a time period that, thank god, is in the distant past. However, if we are not careful this same chaos and substandard living could return and modern chaos is a lot more destructive and dangerous than 14th Century chaos.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating but impossible to get through
Review: I've tried reading this book repeatedly over the last two years and, although the material is interesting, just find it a slog. Tuchman presumes a lot of knowledge about the 14th century on the part of the reader which, combined with the often dense writing, makes it difficult to get through. Tuchman's clever twist is to focus on the life of one French nobleman. This should make the narrative more personal, but frequently results in portions of history, especially outside England and France, feeling short-changed or forced, and making the narrative difficult to follow. If you have some basic understanding of the middle ages in France or England and can get through it, though, it gives a great overall impression of what life in 14th century Europe must have been like.
Rating:
Summary: The Lord of Coucy
Review: There are few, if any, historians who have attacked so many different periods with as much zeal - and success - as Tuchman. Having traversed World War One, Palestine, China policy and other realms, she travels to fourteenth century France for an epic narrative of the Hundred Years' War and the Great Plague - loosely formatted around a biography of Edward de Coucy, a great baron of Picardy (and crusader against the Turk). The great players of the time, from the Black Prince to the ineffectual French Kings to the schismatic Papacy to the true villain, the flea-borne bubo, all feature in this rich tale. Perfect for a reader's first foray into late medieval history.
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