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A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age
by: William Manchester

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.21
EAN: 9780316545563
ISBN: 0316545562
Label: Back Bay Books
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: June 01, 1993
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Sales Rank: 9596
Studio: Back Bay Books

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
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 beston the continent.' European powers were so absorbed in destroying each other and in suppressingpeasant revolts and religious reform that they never quite got around to realizing the possibilities ofcontemporary innovations in public health, civil engineering, and other peaceful pursuits. Instead, theywaged war in faraway lands, created and lost fortunes, and squandered millions of lives. For all thewastefulness of medieval societies, however, Manchester notes, the era created the foundation for theextraordinary creative explosion of the Renaissance. Drawing on a cast of characters numbering in thehundreds, Manchester does a solid job of reconstructing the medieval world, although some scholars maydisagree with his interpretations.

Amazon.com:
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.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Read and test everything
Once 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 Michelangelo could get their politics and economics so badly wrong.

Read "Pillars of the Earth" for a slightly darker view and "Van Loon's Lives" for an even better take on Erasmus. However, Manchester's Luther is worth the price of the book.

Rating:

- The flavor of the middle ages
I 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 book gives you context for all else you may read about the fall of Rome, the crusaders, the Moors, the scientists, and the explorers. I thought the most memorable character highlighted was Magellan.

And throughout, I considered the book very aptly titled: a world lit only by fire. What can human imagination, human passion, human determination not accomplish?

Rating:

- A book lit only by fame
I read this book when it first appeared, and have since carried pleasant if rather vague memories of it. Rereading it some 16 years later, I'm horrified by how bad it is in places, and wonder what in the world I saw in it the first time around.

The opening section entitled "The Medieval Mind" is especially, embarrassingly, bad. In it, Manchester reduces an entire millennium to a quick and spotty sketch (this must account in part for the vagueness of my memories) which is full of over-generalizations (the medieval world wasn't a bona fide "civilization"), simplifications ("there was no room in the medieval mind for doubt; the possibility of skepticism simply did not exist"), and absolute howlers (medieval peasants went naked in the summer; the medieval mind had no spatial and temporal awareness or self-consciousness).

Less bad--but still bad--are the succeeding two sections, both much ... Read More

Rating:

- Oh Dear god
This book is really bad. It plays on every sterotype possible.

I can see why people like it because the author is a good writer. BUT, there is so much wrong with this book its absurd. I literally wanted to rip some of the pages out of this book.

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