5 comments about Louis XI: The Universal Spider.

1. This is a terrific and highly readable biography of a fascinating and enigmatic ruler, set in a period of great political upheaval. Anyone interested in the details of "why" and "how" things happened - not merely "what" happened - will find this book immensely interesting.

   Kendall's style is gripping, but he tends to be a partisan for his subject. At times, his bias becomes a little annoying, particularly where more than one "spin" could be put on a certain course of action. The reader must be careful to make his own judgements in many places.

   That said, Kendall provides a wealth of quotes from contemporary sources, and his scholarship is unquestionable. This is a great book, covering a time and place that is too little addressed in most popular histories.




2. In LOUIS XI THE UNIVERSAL SPIDER, biographer-historian Paul Murray Kendall says the Burgundian chronicler Molinet called Louis "the universal spider" and the sobriquet unfortunately stuck. He says Louis was further demonized by 19th Century historians and writers who failed to do their homework. Louis XI was not so much spider as he was diplomat and peace-maker in an age when men looked suspiciously on such behaviour, and combat was viewed as the honorable and noble approach to settling disputes. Louis used his head and the end result was to bring the feudal era in France to a close and help usher in the modern world.

   Louis reckoned the ceaseless bickering and fighting of the nobles was destructive to the health of the countryside and the people of France. The common people of the towns and villages agreed with Louis as did the merchants and tradesmen. Louis is not remembered for winning any great battles. The major reason Louis was so successful in defeating his enemies was owing to his understanding of finance. He understood that those who fight must finance their wars and without funds, their access to armaments and mercenaries evaporates. The clever king also understood that when the countryside is destroyed an army that crawls on its belly cannot fight.

   Charles VII was the father of Louis XI, that same Dauphin whom Joan the Maid of Orleans managed to have crowned. The ungrateful Charles VII did nothing to save Joan once she had been captured by the English and the Duke of Burgundy, but the six-year old boy who became Louis XI never forgot the saint and he held a lifelong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary after his encounter with her. When Louis was most pressed he prayed to the Virgin, and his monument to her at Clery still exists.

   The Duke of Burgundy during Charles VII's reign was Phillip the Good, and when Louis XI ran afoul of his father, he sought shelter with Duke Phillip who sheltered him. Thus Louis spent a good part of his young manhood in the company of his dour cousin Charles the Bold who became the Duke of Burgundy on his father's death. Charles also became Louis' life-long enemy and it was Charles' man who slandered Louis by referring to him as "the universal spider."

   Louis had one aspiration--to unite France in peace, and promote commerce and the general welfare of the people. Charles the Bold fancied himself another Julius Caesar--a warrior-king. Charles set about expanding his Duchy until Burgundy reached from the county of Burgundy near the Jura mountains to Flanders and Holland on the North Sea.

   Louis was no warrior-king. While other lords ran around in ermine and velvet and jousted at tournaments, Louis donned the hunter's clothes and spent most days in the rural areas chasing animals with his hunting dogs and comingling with the common folk. When he wasn't hunting animals Louis collected them for his vast menagerie.

   On most occasions Louis tried to make peace not war. He used his head, outwitted his enemies including the English king Edward IV, and at the end of his life left his heir Charles VIII a united France. Kendall obviously admired Louis and remarks that he was one of the most formidable human beings who ever lived.

   I have been reading the series Alison Weir has been writing on the English nobility, and enjoyed reading LOUIS XI not only because I want to know more about the history of France, but because in reading about Louis XI, I was able to understand why certain exchanges, conflicts, etc. regarding Edward IV were important. If you found Alison Weir's book on the WAR OF THE ROSES intriguing, you will appreciate this book. Kendall's writing is comparable to Weir's and he has based his writing on his original research--though he is quite dependent on Commynes as are most of Louis' biographers.

   I bought this book from Alibris, and I recommend you find a copy if you're interested in this period of history. I am puzzled as to why this book is out of print.




3. The nickname "Universal Spider" was not meant as a compliment to the French King Louis XI, whose supple mind and diplomatic skills allowed him consistently to outmanouever his enemies both foreign and domestic. Kendall puts an extremely entertaining writing style to good use in relating Louis' various showdowns with the French nobility, battles with Brittany, double-dealing with the rival English Yorkists and Lancasters, and blood-feud with the Burgundian Dukes - who so spectacularly reached the end-of-the-line during Louis' reign. Those parts dealing with Anglo-French diplomacy are particuarly interesting, given the author's other works on Richard III, Edward IV and Warwick the Kingmaker.



4. Louis XI is to be considered among the greatest kings of France, if not the greatest at all, because he set up the national French monarchy which was to last until Louis XVI. He created a powerful kingdom by subduing step by step the once unrulable feudal lords. And this he did mainly by the use of his cunning sagacious diplomacy rather than by the use of weapons. The "Universal Spider" actually employed the strategy of the spider, patience, diplomacy, cold blood, shrewdness and a calculating mind to win the realm from the clutches of the nobles and bound it forever to the Crown. When he succeeded to the throne in 1461 after the death of his father Charles VII, he found France in a state of turmoil. The proud and petulant lords of the Houses of Bourbon, Anjou, Armagnac, Brittany and, above all, the mighty Duke of Burgundy (whose posessions gathered not only the County and Duchy of Burgundy, but also Picardy, Artois, Flanders, Holland, Zealand, Brabant and Luxembourg) had joined in a so-called "League of the Public Weal" to overthrow him and regain their declining privileges. Before his dead, in 1483, he had crushed the nobility, their lands reverted to the Crown; he had got rid of the always threatening Charles the Rash, duke of Burgundy, and swallowed the whole Burgundian territories of France, and had avoided cunningly a second English invasion of France. By 1483 the king of France was the most powerful monarch in Europe and the richest. It was all possible due to the genius of Louis de Valois. The statesmanship of the "Universal Spider" made it possible. This books shows how, and it provides not only an accurate and very amusing lesson of the History of France, but also a valuable lesson in politics. Looks like very often the pen is mightier than the sword.



5. This biography is both well written and leaves you with a clear sense of the subject's personality. Almost the only comment on Louis XI I had read about before this biography was that he was clever and known as "the universal spider" for the webs he wove around people who opposed him.
   
   What I hadn't known was that he'd lead a life of such extremes of good and bad fortune and that he effectivley broke the fedual nobles and bought France into a stabilised central monarchy within in his reign. In some respects Louis was the most unkingly of Kings and its a shame his common touch was lost with subsequent monarchs.
   
   This is one of the best biographies I have read of a medieval monarch and it's well worth seeking out if you have any interest in the birth of the Renaissance and the end of Burgundy and the birth of France as we know it even today.
   
   Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy (History of Valois Burgundy)
   
   Charles the Bold: The Last Valois Duke of Burgundy (History of Valois Burgundy)
   
   Joan of Arc: Her Story

No comments about The Huguenots in France and America. Two Volumes in One.

2 comments about Paris from the Ground Up.

1. Not quite what I thought this book would be. I imagined lots of beautiful images of "old" and "new" Paris, but it's really a pretty boring little book with not many images at all and is more interesting to someone who is doing engineering or maybe architecture. I couldn't "see inside" this book prior to buying it, so took a chance that it might be something special - wrong. Certainly not a coffee table book.



2. Although written in a very dry style, with relatively few interesting anecdotes, this short history of Paris is packed with important and well organized information. Although it is not written in a lively manner, I never found it less than absolutely clear in its descriptions, summations of history, and
   arguments. It helpfully makes connections between Paris' history and its life today, is not uncritical of some of the failures in Paris' development - the Forum des Halles, for example - and it compresses a vast amount of material without either assuming too much background on the part of the reader, or causing annoying vagueness due to lack of detail. The author does, however, challenge the reader at times in his use of architectural terms. The close connection between text and attractive photos is a strength of this book. We see what is being described and analyzed. My one puzzlement is over the intended audience. It is very short, so frustrates those who would like more detail. Its prose is dry, so it frustrates those who want a more lively, popular presentation. That its publisher is Harvard's Belknap Press is therefore not surprising. A good editor could have shaped this into a more entertaining read, but the material and clarity of presentation can't fail to grab our attention and awaken our affection, nonetheless.

5 comments about A Medieval Family: The Pastons of Fifteenth-Century England.

1. This book has a unique and interesting premise--a look into the daily lives of 15th century English men and women through their letters. However, the book is too fact-filled about very ordinary people and you may end up finding yourself skipping to the end.



2. While the book boasts a large cast of interesting characters, the Paston family really comes alive through the Gies' judicious use of the family's own words...three generations of Paston and Paston associates' letters.

   It is non-fiction, but through the letters and the context provided by the Gies' extensive research, the book reads like a non-fiction novel. I especially enjoyed Margaret Paston and the wry humor she managed to express in her letters as she played an important part in both family battles and the land battles that were common in her time.

   I was also impressed with the small world that medieval England must have been. Chaucer's relatives, a few English kings, Queen Margaret, and Sir John Fastolf (the basis for Shakespeare's Falstaf) all came and went in various roles of importance in the lives of an otherwise everyday middle class family.




3. The Amazon reviewer states that if the Pastons had supported the Earl of Oxford at Bosworth field they would have been ruined. The Earl of Oxford commanded the infantry on the winning side!!!! As a consequence of the victory at Bosworth he regained his estates and became the premier nobleman of England.



4. The Pastons were not a likeable bunch. They were ambitious, litigious and acquisitive, embroiled in endless fights (both in and out of court) for diverse manors and lands - and making innocent parties, such as their servants and tenants, suffer as a consequence of these fights. They probably did not think twice about perjuring themselves in issues as sensitive as a man's last will, if it was in their interests to do so. They did not hesitate to change allegiances if the lord they served suddenly fell from favour, as often happened in those politically fraught times. They were snobbish social climbers, not above considering a mercer's daughter as a prospective bride if she happened to have a good dowry, but turning their back on their own daughter and sister when she had the audacity of marrying for love. They are not pleasant people, at least by modern-day standards. And yet (or maybe because of it) their lives are fascinating.
   
   We are lucky that this medieval family's letters have been preserved, thus providing us with a priceless window into the late Middle Ages and what England was like at that time. And we are also lucky that there are scholars such as Frances and Joseph Gies, capable of weaving the letters into a gripping narrative that takes us through three generations of a family's life. This book is a real page-turner.
   
   There are very few things missing. One oddity, in my opinion, is that the excommunication of one of the Paston patriarchs was passed over in one or two lines. Religion was all-important in the Middle Ages, so I suppose being excommunicated must have had a great impact (both practical and psychological) on this individual and his relatives. However, the issue was not analyzed. Also, I would have enjoyed more info on young Margery Paston's clandestine marriage to Richard Calle, the Paston bailiff. Margery defied her family in marrying a man they considered their social inferior, and was shunned by them for it. No information is given on her or her husband's later lives, except for the fact that apparently they had three surviving children. Margery and Richard are the two most endearing people in this chronicle, and I would have liked to know more about what happened to them (indeed, one hopes that they were happy!).
   
   But, all in all, this book was a great read, and a source of important knowledge about the Wars of the Roses, as well as about the lives of a social class whose fortunes were on the rise towards the end of the fifteenth century.



5. The Paston family, whose large collection of personal correspondence is the basis for this book, helps us see firsthand the lifestyle and attitudes of the Middle Ages. Although intriguing, I wasn't ready to limit my medieval reading to one family. The sheer volume of information obtained from personal correspondence and legal records makes this a heavy read if you are not a scholar. I read all the other Gies books with great enjoyment.

5 comments about The Sun King.

1. Nancy Mitford is best known as an author of witty, elegant novels like The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. In the 1950s and 1960s she also produced a number of historical works, of which The Sun King is one of the best.
   
   The Sun King is a personal biography of Louis XIV. It does not deal in great detail with the political, military, or economic issues of Louis XIV's reign but primarily focuses on his personal life and that of his family. Louis married his double first cousin Marie Therese of Spain (she being his genetic sister for all intents and purposes, the reader is amazed that his family turned out as strong and healthy as they did). He also had three major mistresses and a string of casual acquaintanceships which produced a number of illegitimate children. His numerous relations also produced a quantity of children and had many extramarital relationships.
   
   A major part of the book deals with the construction of Versailles. Indeed the book seems almost to be a biography of the chateau. The profuse illustrations, including many photographs of the chateau and its grounds, add immeasurably to the pleasure of reading this work.
   
   But the most compelling reason for reading The Sun King is to enjoy Mitford's elegant, witty, prose style, which is as much in evidence here as in her novels.



2. Ok, I will freely admit that this may not be considered by some to be a scholarly historical assessment. I have been interested in the reign of Louis XIV since childhood when my mother purchased for me a coffee table book of photographs of Versailles. I wondered what could possibly have taken place at such a monstrous and wonderful palace. Since then I have read at least a dozen books on the period which tend to focus on the development and impact of absolutism in 17th century Europe. But this little book is a gem because of its author. Nancy Mitford was the daughter of an English Baron and spent her life as both an academic and a socialite. Her telling of the lives that swirled around Versailles palace is authenticated by the impression one gets that she would have been completely at ease in that setting. This book was written in 1966, just 7 years before her death. Her style sounds more like gossip than history, but is generally regarded as very well-researched. I warn you that if you read this book or one of her other historical biographies, you are in danger of becoming hooked on Mitford and will probably seek out some of her other well-loved books. This was a very enjoyable book and I find myself going back to certain chapters from time to time. One of the most memorable portions is the end where she describes a ghoulish sacrilege; the looting and desecration of the tombs during the revolution. As any good book will, it fascinated me and left me wanting to know more.



3. This book is an absolutely amazing piece of work. I was introduced to it while looking for audiobooks on ITunes. The audiobook was so enjoyable that I felt compelled to purchase the actual book to read along with it.
   
   Mitford makes each of the historical figures come alive, and makes an opulent and enclosed society accessible to readers of any age. The work is gossipy enough to be interesting, but not to such a degree as to detract from the historical accuracy. I would recommend "The Sun King" to anyone who wishes to learn more about the age of France's greatest king and the people that surrounded him.
   
   The only drawback is that for one to fully appreciate the book, they should have a very basic knowledge of French and European history (at least as far as names and dates are concerned). Having long been interested in history, I did not find this a problem, but I can see how one who was not familiar may find themselves in unfamiliar territory. Otherwise, this book is about as close to perfection as I've seen.



4. I greatly enjoyed this book. To start with, it is a nice size and has many many color reproductions of paintings of the people and places... since they were royalty, this is often great art, so the larger size qualifies it as a small art/picture book.
   
   There is, of course, well written, engaging text on the lives of these people and the intertwinings of public and personal history. In this story, we see how the seeds of revolution were sown by moving the royals away from the city, so that two generations later we have people who are completely unfamiliar with real life outside Versailles.
   
   Some will find this confusing and frustrating because so often names were similar or honorific titles overlapped. Person A is called "Monsieur" by person B, but person C calls him "Sir John" and person D calls him by his title, the second Earl of the Whoosie. Do be prepared to flip back and forth to clarify whether is is the Duke of Borne or the Duke of Burne (I just made that name up, but you get the idea), especially when they are married to each other's sister, and every other woman is named Marie Thereses or Anne Marie. All this to say it does require some attentiona and committment from the reader.
   
   The reward is a rich history where personal piques shaped the lives of hundreds, and in many cases, misshaped the lives more than a corset misshapes the body. The writing is often witty but we see enough of their foibles to care about these folks too. Informative and enjoyable.



5. I bought this book hoping to learn more about Louis XIV. I cannot deny, I learned a lot. The colors and dresses and nuances of Versailles are beautifully rendered, the daily life at the court becomes vivid.
   Yet despite this pleasant and entertaining writing, which never shies away from taking sides, the book ultimately disappoints anyone who has hoped for some historical insight. Military campaigns and the historical position of the King a simply left out of the picture. One wonders why his enemies (Marlborough, Prince Eugene) were not able to defeat him. he revocation of the Edict of Nantes and the atrocities of the Dragonards - in which historical context does it have to be seen? was Louis XIV the founder or the destroyer of French Monarchism?
   And even if one reduces all to the court life and Versailles and claims that this book is about Louis XIV in Versailles only, the King himself remains an elusive figure. What were his motivations? Why was he able to exert such unchallenged rule and transform France? All this one can only guess at, nothing more.

3 comments about Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen and Legend.

1. This book was an accurate account of Eleanor of Aquitaine. He does a wonderful job in depicting her life.



2. This is a great book. I learned so much from this book. I am doing a project on Queen Eleanor and it helped me so much.I hope everyone else learns as much as I did! I hope that she will still have her name in history in a houndred years from now. ENJOY the book.



3. The late D.D.R. Owen was Professor Emeritus of French at Scotland's University of St. Andrews. He had acquired the languages, the deep cultural knowledge and the scholar's discipline that equipped him to compose a fine, restrained biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Owen's treatment is careful to draw a line between rumor and fact (insofar as that line can be drawn more than eight centuries later). He exposes rumors, plays them down and turns his attention to accenting history.
   
   Eleanor was a patron and sponsor of troubadours at her many courts. Verses and songs in her praise inevitably fueled the whiff of scandal. Her enemies' verses and whisperings, her larger than life character and the written records of tut-tutting clerics from Paris to Antioch all darkened her record. Owen set himself the task of rubbing away the grime of ages to expose the life at the core. His account of Eleanor's limitations and excesses is no less interesting for that. Thus he can show more clearly than most how much authority this amazing woman did, or did not, exercise through sixty-seven years during which she counseled, provoked or scorned four kings, two of them her husbands, two of them her sons.
   
   Owen's "Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen and Legend" is the book for readers who want their Eleanor, beauty, warts and all, but shorn of celebrity fluff. In that sense it complements Bonnie Wheeler's and John Parsons' "Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady." Both books offer scholarly approaches. They are well matched in presenting well-crafted interpretations of violent, turbulent, very strange times, with a strong-willed queen presiding.
   
   Robert Fripp, author of
   Power of a Woman. Memoirs of a turbulent life: Eleanor of Aquitaine

1 comments about The Glassworkers of Carmaux (Harvard Studies in Urban History).

1. Q: Socialism in the face of rapid industrialization? How can a student of the 19th century world come to appreciate the human qualities of such a struggle? The answers given by most historians are far too simple, a point which Joan Scott brings to light through her highly analytical, and yet delightfully readable account of the history of one French city. Her comparative analysis of the many significant, subtle cross-currents finally makes the conflict between Socialism and Industrial-Age progress clearly understandable.

2 comments about The Fabrication of Louis XIV.

1. The theory that ritual, pomp and circumstance can serve to enhance political power is not a new one. This book, however, makes the case that Louis XIV, in everything he did, worked to style himself as an absolute leader, a god-like ruler. From his artistic and architectural programs, to sumptuary laws, and official celebrations, Louis XIV's goal was always to assert and enhance his power. This is an enthralling book that gives insight to the era of Louis XIV as well as perspective on the use of symbol and ritual to create and maintain power.



2. I read this book in grad school, and it was one of the most enjoyable and accessible books I read. It is not a biography of Louis XIV but an extensive study on the image-making of the king. The use of the negative-sounding word "Fabrication" in the title makes the cover look very intriguing as it may imply to some that Burke has uncovered much deceit surrounding Louis' image. Actually, Burke uses this term to mean the process and constant renewal of the representation of Louis XIV (10-11). Burke includes chapters on the following subjects: the types of persuasion used (medals, festivals, allegories, etc.), a brief background on Louis' "sunrise", the organization of Louis' image-making system (academies, etc.), the royal image from the time of "personal rule," image-making through victories, reconstruction through peacetime, Louis' "sunset," differences between the ideal and the real, antagonistic images (loyal subjects making gentle fun or giving hopeful advise and actual enemies of the king), the ways in which Louis' image was perceived including the "targets" of Louis' image-makers, and a comparison with rulers before, during, and after his reign. Strangely enough, the Third Reich is not mentioned in the latter chapter which would be a glaring omission to me had it not left the door open for me to write a term paper making such a comparison.

   Burke presents a very thorough study examining such things as the changes in medal inscriptions through the years of Louis' rule to a look at what was meant by "public" during this time (pp. 131 and 152). The many photographs makes for a very interesting and enjoyable book. There is also appendixes on the numbers of medals and portraits created during the different decades of Louis' reign. It is a case study of image-making which, if taken as that, is an excellent, complete study. Do not expect a complicated thesis from this work. Burke, for example, does not pursue very strongly the idea of "charisma" (introduced on page 11)and how much "charisma" is tied to personality and "fabrication." One petty complaint is Burke's tendency to throw in French words and phrases. Most often it does not detract from an understanding of the study but, in certain cases, it can be very frustrating. Two of the worst examples are when Burke is describing how the king was surrounded by the gentlemen of his chamber "even when he was..." [the rest being in French] (91) and when Burke mentions a man who found himself in court for remarking "in brutal simplicity, that..." [the rest being in French] (167). But I won't knock off a star because I do not know Francaise.

5 comments about The Life of Charlemagne (Ann Arbor Paperbacks).

1. Charlemagne's reign was a brief flash of light in the dark centuries that followed the collapse of the Roman empire. As king of the Franks, Charlemagne unified much of Western Europe - what today is northeastern Spain, all of France, and parts of Germany and Italy. He revived education and learning, repaired existing churches and built new ones, and helped strengthen the position of the Pope in Rome. In the year 800 Charlemagne was crowned Emperor Augustus, ruler of the new Roman empire.
   
   This new empire was short lived, but Charlemagne became legend. Einhard, a scholar in Charlemagne's court and author of this short biography, was faced with a difficult question: how does one write a balanced and honest biography of a revered king, a king that had become legendary in his own time?
   
   Einhard had few examples to follow. The religious biographies of saints were not entirely appropriate. He turned to a classical source, The Lives of the Caesars by the Roman historian Seutonius. Einhard devotes about half of his work to Charlemagne's extensive military campaigns, but his focus remains on Charlemagne the leader and Charlemagne the man, not on military tactics and strategy.
   
   The modern reader will find it helpful to read between the lines. Einhard obviously admired Charlemagne, and his criticisms are muted. Also, Einhard's writing reflects a world view very different from today.
   
   For example, Einhard in discussing the continual uprising of the Saxons says: he never allowed their faithless behavior to go unpunished, but either took the field against them in person, or sent his counts with an army to wreak vengeance and exact righteous satisfaction.
   
   Wreak vengeance? Exact righteous satisfaction? The editor's footnote explains that at the time of a revolt in 782 Charlemagne had 4,500 Saxons beheaded in one day at Verden. Similarly, after a formidable conspiracy in Germany was put down, "all the traitors were banished, some of them without mutilation, others after their eyes had been put out".
   
   Einhard provides many details of Charlemagne's character and private life. Charlemagne enjoyed the exhalations from natural hot springs. He often practiced swimming; few could surpass him in this sport. Einhard carefully describes the clothing worn by Charlemagne. He apparently disliked foreign costumes, and was most comfortable in the common dress of the Frankish people.
   
   He was temperate in eating, and especially drinking. He was particularly fond of roast meat prepared on a spit and disregarded medical advice to eat only boiled meat. He could speak Latin fluently. St. Augustine's The City of God was among his favorite books. He never developed proficiency at writing, although he practiced regularly during his later years.
   
   Einhard's biography was immensely popular and more than eighty manuscripts still exist today.
   
   My copy of The Life of Charlemagne was published by Ann Arbor Paperbacks, University of Michigan Press. The foreword by historian Sidney Painter was quite helpful in establishing the historical context. My copy includes a ninth century map of Europe, footnotes, and a genealogical table for the family of Charlemagne and Hildegard.



2. Written in the decade following Charlemagne's death, Einhard's biography is based on over twenty years of personal service to Charlemagne and gives readers a tightly-woven narrative of the sovereign's life, personal character, and military conquests. Although presenting an idealized version of events, the historical accuracy of most of the book's details have been largely confirmed by modern historians. The book's modern index reaffirms this conclusion by documenting less than ten minor factual errors.
   
   The biography was obviously written to honor Einhard's former patron, but the deeds and exploits chronicled in Einhard's book are nevertheless plausibly presented in a idealized manner reminiscent of patriotic middle school textbook renderings of George Washington or Theodore Roosevelt. The book's format is continuous, breaking only at the end of a four-page preface before continuing on with an unbroken string of pages which are presented without the benefit of chapter divisions. The style of Einhard's writing tends to be wooden and Spartan - the biography tells the reader of Charlemagne's accomplishments but makes scant mention of the difficulties he faced - and any criticism of Charlemagne is obviously muted by the author's attempt to balance the idealized expectations of his partisan audience with the Roman ideal of factual honesty.
   
   Einhard's biography starts with a concise outline of Charlemagne's lineage, beginning with a brief mention of his great-grandfather Pepin of Heristal, followed by three pages summarizing the exploits of grandfather Charles Martel and father Pepin the Short. Due to an admitted lack of source material, Einhard skips Charlemagne's childhood and proceeds directly to his first military undertaking; the Aqauitanian war begun by Pepin the Short. The rest of the book's sixty seven pages are essentially divided into two parts: the first half concisely presenting a chronological, episodic narration of Charlemagne's military campaigns (confining the focus to Charlemagne's motives and decisions while largely ignoring his tactics and strategy), before backtracking to conclude with a twenty seven page glimpse of the monarch's personal and family life.
   
   The author's purpose in writing the book, plainly stated by him in the book's preface, reveal an unmistakable admiration which borders on hero worship. Descriptive phrases like "most excellent," "justly renowned," and "a very great and distinguished man" clearly display Einhard's to write the book as tribute to the greatest man of his age. In this he succeeds; although the book's superficial and miserly accounting of its subject's exploits leave the reader hungry for more details.
   
   The book effectively chronicles the subject's glorious life and accomplishments from the point of view of a member of his court. Simultaneously, Einhard manages to shine some much-needed light onto Charlemagne's moral stature and political machinations, in addition to providing the reader with a general military history of the period.



3. This chronicle was commissioned at the request of Louis the Pious one of Charlemagne's successors, was written by Einhard, a monk, historian, and a dedicated servant of Charlemagne. His Life of Charlemagne, written between 817-830 is clearly in the vein of the famous Roman historian Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars (a text that existed at the monastery where the author worked). The work is brief, to the point, and for the most part does not include tangential information, and is biased. The bias is completely understandable and the introduction to the text points out where and why. His chronicle was written to make Louis the Pious' famous father look good. For example, one of the morally stained aspects of the Charlemagne's reign were the actions of his unmoral daughters, which Einhard carefully does not tell us about. Einhard, in short, sometimes deliberately obscures the truth. However, what is so appealing about Einhard's text is the fact that his most of his information was based off of 26 years as a servant of Charlemagne and his court, and information that he includes of actions before Charlemagne's reign most likely was gathered from sources and documents which he had access to. Lastly, Einhard's attempt at stringently following the model of Suetonius Twelve Caesars makes him connect the characteristics of great emperors such as Augustus to Charlemagne, obscuring Charlemagne's actual habits, personality etc...
   
   The introduction is ok but is mostly summary, the map is good, but the notes are scanty. A MUCH better addition would be the Penguin Classics text, Two Lives of Charlemagne, that also includes the equally interesting (although vastly different) De Carlo Magno written 70 years after Charlemagne's death.



4. King Charles the Great, more commonly known as Charlemagne, was the first truly great leader of France. His reign was one of great expansion as he created a French nation that controlled nearly all of Western Europe. Charlemagne was a great military commander and one who appreciated learning, he did a great deal to promote the relearning of so much that was lost with the fall of the Roman Empire.
   Einhard was one of the learned people that Charlemagne sponsored, and so in this book Einhard quite naturally praises the great king. Yet, it is historically accurate and written in 830 CE, it is contemporary to the life of the great king. Einhard's direct observation of the life of Charlemagne is a historical classic, one that should be read by all students of what we now call the Dark Ages. For Charlemagne was a rare glimmer of light during those times of meager learning and education.



5. This is an excellent book with great information. I used it for a research paper and made an A due to the extensive areas of his life that it covered.

5 comments about A Village Lost and Found.

1. Given as a gift. Recipients raved about this item. They were fascinated with the narrative about the 1850s English village, the 1850s technology and the application of that old technology by the current author.



2. I must say this is a superb book. Look to the video review by Christoph64 for an overview of what this book is all about. This is a volume for those interested in photography, specifically stereoscopic photography, as well as for those interested and studying how people lived in 19th century Britain - with a focus on common village folk. The viewer which comes with the boxed book works well, though not as well as with my early 20th century viewer. I suggest, for those scenes which have special appeal and for personal use only, to have a print shop copy those particular scenes on card stock, and then cut them to size so they fit in an old-fashioned viewer. You will be amazed at what you will immediately see and how the scene pops to life.
   I want to thank Brian May and Elena Vidal for working on and producing such a fine volume so that many around the world can enjoy these examples of life in Victorian Britain. It truly looks to be a labor of love. It strikes me that this book would be a good introduction for children, as well as adults, to learn about life in another place and time. Incidentally, many of the views show hand-colored examples of this early photography. This is an example of how publishers can still produce books of a fine quality at what I think is a reasonable price.



3. I saw Dr. May and this book presented at the 2010 National Stereographic Association convention. He seems a true Renaissance Man and probably the foremost public booster of traditional stereography.
   
   The book goes into many subtleties that casual stereo card fans may miss and will deepen their appreciation. For instance, modern stereographic pairs are often taken together simultaneously. But each picture in Williams' pairs were taken a minute or so apart and can show small, fun clues as to the difference between the time lag.
   
   While the book is beautifully produced, fans of digital or modern 3D, (like myself), should be aware that the time lags, hand coloring, and early printing methods of Williams' era can produce some discomforting "retinal rivalry" during viewing. Saying that, the included viewer, (which May helped design), is another testament to his passion and genius for the subject and it the most comfortable and handy print viewer I ever used.
   
   While May is quite knowledgeable about the pleasures of human 3D depth perception, his premise on how humans gained 3D depth-perception perplexed me. He states that it evolved to better see dangers and avoid predators.
   How could such an educated man in this field make such a misleading statement that ignores basic biology and evolution?
   
   The truth is: we evolved depth perception to BE the danger, not avoid it.
   
   Contrary to May's assertion, the mammals with the most evolved danger-avoiding vision use little, if any, depth perception. They tend to be grazers with side-mounted eyes (like rabbits, deer, & sheep) and use their wide, peripheral vision to detect the movements around them.
   
   Depth-perception evolved most in mammals with forward-set eyes (like cats, dogs, & humans). It evolved to help them track and chase down prey - not to just spot and run from other animals. This general side-eyed herbivore vs. front-eyed carnivore dichotomy is well understood in biology.
   
   Dr. May certainly knew of this. I can only suspect that his avowed vegetarianism is why he omits the carnivorous origins of our depth perception. While vegetarianism certainly has some valid health and ethical concerns, some of it's fringe philosophy has almost Creationist-like delusions about human anatomy and diet. Humans are omnivores like our primate cousins, and our stereo-vision evolved from hunting behavior. To say otherwise is like his fellow astrophysicists suddenly asserting a literal, seven solar-day beginning of the Universe.
   
   So, 3D fans might want to try a satisfying steak dinner after enjoying their next stereo viewing session. After all, these two pleasures have been inseparable for millions of years! (Just a little humor there, Brian!)



4. I ordered this book for several reasons, but mostly because I read all about the search for this "lost" village a while ago on Brian May's website.
   
   Brian May (yes, the guitarist from Queen) had seen the series of stereophotographs by T.R. WIlliams, which were taken in the 1850's, but were only titled, "Scenes from Our Village". After searching and researching, he and his co-author Elena Vidal not only located the village, but also some of the structures from the images that are still standing today.
   
   Stereo images, if you are not familiar, are a pair of images of the same subject, taken at slightly different angles so that when viewed together, they create a 3-D effect similar to what we enjoy in computer-generated movies like Avatar and Toy Story 3. The same effect is also used in the 3-D pictures that you stare at until a hidden image appears within it. But these photos were taken over 100 years ago using glass plates in tripod cameras, and were originally viewed as photo pairs mounted ona card, using a hand-held viewer that was the forerunner of our View-Masters of the 1960's.
   
   This book is a compilation of the stereo image pairs from the series "Scenes from Our Village", along with a brief history and explanation of each image - who is in it, where it was taken, comments on the imaging techniques. Most fascinating is the amount of skill required to take duplicate still photos of people and children and nature using the methods of the day which required the subjects to remain in the same position for 5-10 minutes while the exposures were made. A stereo viewer that was included with the book allows easy viewing of stereo pairs as 3-D images, giving incredible depth and life to photos from 150 years ago when photography was in its infancy.
   
   The book also includes a brief history of the photographer, an in-depth description of the techniques and equipment used to create these 3-D image pairs, and a glossary of the photographic and imaging terms to help those unfamiliar with the topics and wonderful insights into the life and times in this village that was lost and found. Stereo images of the existing structures, sometimes from the same viewpoint as in the original photos, are also included.
   
   If you have any interest in photography, or of 3-D effects, or of the history of rural village life in the 1850's, this book is highly recommended.
   
   I had the great pleasure of attending a book signing event where these authors discussed all that went into the making of this book, and more tidbits of information about the images, which made looking through the book again even more enjoyable.



5. This book is a time machine that transports you over 150 years into the past. It is obviously a labor of love, but more than that: history and art combined into a unique treasure. Reading it, you feel a connection to the past -- highlighted by 3D views of the past and present, juxtaposed together -- but you also gain a sense of how your own actions are building the yet-to-come future. Thanks to Brian and Elena for creating and sharing something so wondrous.