Rating: 
Summary: The Brutality of life, if you were alive you would be hurt.
Review: Barbara Tuchman is the kind of teacher I would have loved in HS World History. Since I was exempted from taking History in college, the need to seek out Barbara was taken away from me in that arena. My Point? Well I'll try. I'm young and always needing a fix on what happened in the past. The bearings of my position shift in a number of ways daily, weekly, yearly. The one constant I have is the past. No one can change it, not Crichton nor even God. A Distant Mirror has given me the biggest fix during the course of this week. I read and was aghast"farmers would bid on draw an quarterings to take place in their village instead of the one up the road" the quartered viscera to be displayed proudly over the next few weeks. "Good People" to this generation meant folks who kept there word to a master, knight, king. If you broke your word you could suffer terribly, especially if cowardice was involved. You carry out your committment to the upper class, an the upper class did whatever it wanted to you or an enemy--->warfare, no problem being cruel and horrific to your fellow man living down the street, whatever manner to kill civilians for booty, whether humiliating, torturously painful? Condoned by everyone. These 13-14th century kin of ours would add a whole new dimension to "The Jerry Springer Show" It would be a blood bath perfectly acceptable for the whole family to watch as "good Sport". What, you don't believe me? Read this chapter in the European mans enlightened development. Think we could ever regress to that point? Nahhh not us civilized folk. Truly and personally, no I think not. I'll be here for the next 50 years, checking violent regression with laws and judges and prisons. The book reads like I have my personal documentarian standing beside me and answering every question as they occur in that time period. It's a thorough investigation. It is entertaining in many ways as a work of horror with elements of subverted acts of chivalry and one true act of honor being applauded every 5 to 10 pages. Developed well, read easily if you have a knack for catching genealogical accounts and retaining for future reference. The historical facts and their placement in the story to keep boosting its progress and final conclusion is why Barbara could keep a pack of 3rd graders enthralled. Their mothers would object to the content; we need not place many of these long buried brutal concepts back into the young, motivated and living. Don't know if Barbara ever taught HS history but I do know those students could easily have exempted history. They would not, of course, it would be their major. Nikko the kid
Rating: 
Summary: Tough going but worth it if you like history
Review: OK Ok...so I am not a history professor. Not even a history student..Perhaps that would have helped me through this one...If you can sort out the players as you go along, you are ready for a PhD. There is a confusing array of colorful characters, but I had a tough time keeping them straight, partly because the author has a habit of using different names for the same person. As if I knew them in advance. I did not. So oftentimes I had to go back and see who was who..Fortunately, there is an EXCELLENT index. There were marvelous insights into day to day life, and these appear suddenly for no logical reason, but they are welcome after plodding through the dry facts and names...All in all, a fine book if you are deeply interested in France in the 14th century. I did learn alot. It just seemed too much like a college course, I guess. It was crammed with facts, and I was glad to finish it. I never give up on a book once I start it, but if you sometimes do, think twice before buying this one. You have to like the subject alot to keep it all straight..After all, you are trying to swallow an entire century of French history. There were plenty of people to fill up those one hundred years.. Enjoy it. Don't bite off too much and you will do fine.
Rating: 
Summary: A history written in verisimilitude
Review: Once again, Barbara Tuchman has walked the thin line of factual reporting and making the facts personal to the reader. Yet, she has done so without bending the truth, but enhancing history by illustration of thoughts. Dr. Tuchman has done this by including noted paintings of the periods to explain various views of the time. She also links facts from one facet of history at the time and how it contributed to the change or stasis of the historical point. Such an approach makes history a joy to study and the dates (if you are into such numbers!) easy to remember. The 14th Century is a particular favorite! Tuchman shows the rise and fall of chivalry, feudalism, various schisms, and such a plethora of events. Though they seem unlinked, she has drawn them together under one cover. History shall never see another writer as this.
Rating:
Summary: A great way to help us understand our time
Review: I am always amazed at people who don't seem to enjoy or understand the relevance of history. Trying to understand the present without a knowledge of the past is like trying to figure out what's wrong with a clock by examining its face. It's like being a leaf that doesn't know it's part of a tree. In Tuchman's comprehensive look at 14th century Europe, we see the beginnings of our modern market economy, the notion of romantic love, trade unions, urbanization, nationalism, anti-semitism (portents of the Holocaust), ideas of chivalry in warfare being torn down by advances in technology, and on and on. I found this book to be endlessly fascinating, told in a lively and engaging manner. If you don't think civilization has made much progress, read this book. It will give you a new perspective on just how far we've come--despite the sometimes eerie similarities.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommend
Review: Absolutely the finest book I've read on the subject. Scholarly yet very readable for the novice historian like myself. People and places come alive. An in depth study of politics, religion and European society of that time. It isn't always a pretty picture of who we were, hence the title is relevant, a reflection of who we are today....ominous.
Rating:
Summary: by one of the best history writers of our time
Review: Maybe not an easy read for some, but if you are interested in Europe history, this is a must read. For those looking for a historical novel, look elsewhere. This is the real thing; stranger than fiction. The author develops her ideas and conclusions without hitting you over the head with them. Her style is very readable and narrative. Yes, there is a lot of detail here and you may not want to read it in one sitting, but I have read it twice over the years and plan to again. Her other books are great too: Guns of August, The Proud Tower, the March of Folly, etc.
Rating:
Summary: this is THE introduction to the 14th century
Review: great read; re-reading it again at the moment; enjoying all the nitty gritty details; highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The single favorite all time book of my life!
Review: Followed closely only by Daniel Boorstin's The Discoverers (not that ALL of his AND her works are not spectacular--they ARE!)Unlike another reviewer, I "ate up" all the names and places and LOVED them all. I did NOT think of it as a "hard read" and, indeed, have re-read Distant Mirror 3 times--and will again. Also, re-reading Discoverers and Boorstin's American Histories, TOO!
Rating: 
Summary: A big bore!
Review: Although I really liked her 'March of Folly' I found this book hard to follow in that she allows too many names and places to flow together. If you read this book be ready to labor at it; it is not an easy read.
Rating:
Summary: very well written
Review: For someone who would like to develope interest in the 14th Century, this is an excellent place to start. This book is smooth and easy to feel the pluse of how it was. I like to pick it up and read it here and there but the references she lists are very good as well. A must read.
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