Rating: 
Summary: Kudos for keeping my attention
Review: I am not an expert book reviewer, so I will present my views in list form: (1) Manchester demonstrates a perverse interest in the details of the torture and sexuality of this period; (2) I appreciated that he gave an overview instead of the life histories of Luther, Erasmus, and the other major figures; (3) he should have spent a few more months at least getting the major sections of the book to cohere--the transition from his extended tirade against the evils of the papacy to his praise for Magellan's voyage was more rough than the waters Magelland encountered in his legendary strait; (4) Manchester's analysis of the meaning of the term "hero" in the final third of the work was probably the most bizarre writing I have ever read from a historian or writer of Manchester's caliber. Perhaps by the end of his writing, Manchester had begun to lose his bearings much as Magellan apparently did after he arrived in the Philippines. Manchester argues, for example, that a soldier who falls on a grenade to save the lives of others is not a hero because the act was "impulsive." He also argues that anyone with supporters cannot be a hero, and that physical courage has little to do with heroism. Manchester should have been more truthful and simple and admitted that Magellan was HIS hero and that others often called heros are not HIS hero. In fact, physical courage--such as that demonstrated by firefighters on 9/11--can make one a hero, as can "impulsive" but selfless behavior, such as falling on a grenade. Almost everyone who has accomplished great things has had some supporters, even if he or she has been thoroughly opposed--consider Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King Jr.
Rating: 
Summary: pop history
Review: Unfortunately, William Manchester did not do his homework before writing this work. To his credit, he does at least admit to not doing the research. This book might provide an interesting story, but readers need to be aware that it cannot masquerade as a serious history text.
Rating: 
Summary: History as entertainment
Review: There are scholarly works of history, well written, researched, accurate, and boring. Then there are works, that are perhaps not as accurate, not as exact, but that show you how things actually were, and the influences and connections that shaped history. This is not one of the former, but definitely it is one of the latter.
There are inaccuracies. Knight might have originally meant a minor landed noble in old Anglo Saxon, but the Spanish, French and Italian terms (Caballero, Chevalier, and Cavalieri) mean just horseman. There are also a couple of proofreading errors, but they are obvious.
Now for the good part. The book tells a story. It tells the story of a continent that is seeped in darkness, and of its slow ascent into light. Of how the light of reason takes over where the oscurantism of revelation used to rule. How the revolution of reason permitted the reform movements of Luther and Calvin; and how those reform movements, commited the same atrocities that the original church had and was guilty of. No punches are pulled, and no confession is respected.This book may not allow you to pass a medieval history final, but after reading it, you will know and understand, not only what was going on in Europe's darkest age, but why and how. What was gained and lost as the Renaissance dawned on the horizon; and also, there are interesting inferences that can be drawn, appropriate for modern times, on other areas of the world, where revelation rather than reason, alas, still holds sway. I read it in two days, and highly recommend it to the amateur historian, or to anyone who would like to know what it felt like to live in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries.
Rating:
Summary: Ignorance, well-written.
Review: A poorly informed book, written and packaged in an entertaining way. Very unfortunate that a good writer would do so little research before constructing his argument. Please see "Legends, Lies and Cherished Myths of World History" by Richard Shenkman for further debunking of old cliches. And this is NOT a "new" take on medieval history- it's the same propaganda the renaissance authors pushed centuries ago. Popular history can be great, but only if it also has the facts straight.
Rating:
Summary: A great way to learn about the medieval era
Review: This is a wonderful book. I read a borrowed copy 4 years ago and I am buying one now to re-read and to give to my wife. The style of the writing seems very natural to me and makes the many fascinating facts that I had never learned before very easy and enjoyable to digest. I love reading about the medieval era and have read many books about the subject, both historical novels and scholarly. This book is my favorite. "A Distant Mirror" was a wonderful book but difficult, I felt, to plow through. One reviewer felt William Manchester was a bit arrogant and derogatory in his dealing with the so called "dark ages". I never felt as though he had this attitude, but rather that he gave the details as an impartial observer with a complete command of the subject. I would recommend this book unhesitatingly to anyone interrested in the middle ages, especially those new to the subject, as it is both packed with interresting facts yet not pedantic.
Rating:
Summary: Example of a Historian Who Hates His Subject
Review: A World Lit Only By Fire is a good example of how NOT to write a history. Manchester's spin on the medieval world is wholy biased: unhelpful to the casual reader, and downright insulting to medievalists. I read this many years ago, as a senior in high school, and was appalled even then by the haughty demeanour of this author as he looked down on medieval people from the 20th century, making no effort to hide his sensationalist writing and willfull misinterpretation. I shudder to see that it still sits on many bookstore shelves today.
Rating:
Summary: trite
Review: this book is to history what Maxim magazine is to journalism. Cheezy, trite, sensational. Author has zero understanding of the Renaissance mind (or the medieval one)... reads like a 10th-grader's book report.
Rating:
Summary: Vivid evocation.
Review: For people who never read a historic book, this is the one to begin with. It is more like a novel than, a sometimes boring, scientific work.
It is a compelling evocation of the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance told through the adventures of some key players like Luther, Magelhaes and Henry VIII.
It was a period lit by the fire of the stake. A symbol and warning that the power of the Church had still to be dealt with. A power that held 75 % of all the money in France and 50 % of all the wealth in Germany, while the lower classes lived in poverty and were literally and metaphorically (through the menace of the hell) starving.
The adage of the pope was : do what I say, do not what I do, e.g. the incestuous pope Alexander Borgia.
The Church of Rome filled her coffers with the compulsory selling of indulgences. No wonder that part of the peers chose for Luther: they didn't have to buy the indulgences any more.
A realistic, wonderfully told, but bitter tale. For people interested in other books about this period, I recommend the magisterial work of Jean Delumeau 'Sin and Fear: the Emergence of the Western Guilt Culture 13th - 18th Centuries' and 'The Waning of the Middle Ages' by Johan Huizinga. For an acidic critic of the Church, see 'The Praise of Folly' by Erasmus.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: I found this a fascinating and engrossing read. Obviously the author has his opinion, but the style of writing and the rythm and flow of the book make a good read. Not for the faint hearted, or dogmatic, as a practising Catholic I was a bit miffed by his obvious dislkie of all churches, but I don't deny that the religious leaders of the time were disgusting- we don't need Manchester to tell us so.
A must read for those who despair of Africas backwardness - Europe was ten times worse a few hundred years ago, which is a brief time in world history. Confirmed my opinion that all major civilisations have to go thru turbulent times.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible
Review: This book is horrible. It makes no sense and is horrible. Don't even bother reading it.
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