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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 940.21 EAN: 9780316545310 Edition: 1st ISBN: 0316545317 Label: Little, Brown and Company Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 320 Publication Date: April 30, 1992 Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Studio: Little, Brown and Company Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: It speaks to the failure of medieval Europe, writes popular historian William Manchester, that "in the year 1500, after a thousand years of neglect, the roads built by the Romans were still the best on the continent." European powers were so absorbed in destroying each other and in suppressing peasant revolts and religious reform that they never quite got around to realizing the possibilities of contemporary innovations in public health, civil engineering, and other peaceful pursuits. Instead, they waged war in faraway lands, created and lost fortunes, and squandered millions of lives. For all the wastefulness of medieval societies, however, Manchester notes, the era created the foundation for the extraordinary creative explosion of the Renaissance. Drawing on a cast of characters numbering in the hundreds, Manchester does a solid job of reconstructing the medieval world, although some scholars may disagree with his interpretations. Product Description: With more than 200,000 copies sold in hardcover and paperback, William Manchester's A World Lit Only by Fire is the preeminent popular history of civilization's rebirth after the Dark Ages. Though the paperback edition remains available, this durable hardcover is an indispensable volume for any Manchester fan or history buff with a serious home library. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Historical revisionism and distortion at its finestI was taken aback when, within the first chapter, the author noted how Alaric (the Goth) had difficulty keeping his Huns (no kidding) from sacking Rome. I wanted to give Manchester the benefit of a doubt, but within the first chapter he totally neglected factual content in favor of anti-western, anti-Christian diatribe. While still in the opening portion of the book, Manchester went on to provide so crude a summary of Augustine's philosophies that I can't believe he actually read any of ... Read More Rating:  - Highly EntertainingWhat an entertaining review of history. Manchester accomplishes what he said he set out to do(read the authors note); that is, produce a review of almost two thousand years of history in a single volume. Necessarily that means the focus is limited; he picks various elements of European history in the dark ages and includes a more substantial section devoted to Magellan's Great Voyage. Every popular history book I have ever read has come under withering criticism on Amazon from some "expert" who ... Read More Rating: - When The Capitalist World Was YoungThe last time that the name of the late well-know journalist and history writer William Manchester was mentioned in this space was in a review of his biography of World War II and Korean War General Douglas MacArthur,the self-promoting American Caesar. Previously Manchester had also done an analysis of the John F. Kennedy assassination so that he is well versed in the meaning of history and the importance of particular historical facts-as opposed to the self-serving and fraudulent press releases. Read More Rating: - Read and test everythingOnce I got over the missing end notes and misleading fact-bending throughout, I thoroughly enjoyed this romp through Europe 500 years ago. "Tabloid History" [as one other reviewer calls it] indeed. Christians be wary of taking offense at Manchester's many jabs. I prefer to think he is scaring us out of our demonizing tendencies. In the end, you will have a better view of the reformation than most college courses in the subject provide AND you may even wonder how the same popes that appreciated ... Read More Rating: - The flavor of the middle agesI was expecting a history book. I love history books. This was more of a history story, a fireside tale of history. That's ok -- I can take that. It reminds me of Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose -- about the Lewis and Clark expedition. While *not* a comprehensive history of the Middle Ages, this was a great read. Manchester sketched the time period so clearly. And through this portrait, he brings some of the major thinkers and ideas that quickened into the Renaissance. The ... Read More 
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