A World Lit Only by Fire (was: Books...)
Jim Davis
I recently checked out 2 books from the library. One was _A World Lit Only by
Fire_ by William Manchester. I read about 30 pages of it last night and was
somewhat disturbed by the general tone. Manchester seems to be of the
opinion that nothing of importance happened between the fall of Rome and
the glorious birth of humanism in the Rennaisance. He also seems to be
unaware of a literary device known as a footnote. I'm wondering if anybody
else has read it and what their opinions are. I have little enough time for
reading and no desire to waste it on a useless book.
The other book is _The Quest for Eternity: Manners and Morals in the Age of
Chivalry_ by Charles T. Wood. Although, I'm only about 50 pages into it, it
appears to be much more worthwhile. Wood is a Professor of History at
Dartmouth and the book carries part of a very favorable review from
Speculum on the back cover.
Opinions on either or both are solicited.
Richard du Guesclin, Elvegast, Windmaster' Hill, Atlantia
davi...@epamail.epa.gov
Robert M Van Rens
Fire*...not only did I find it to be a load of high-grade fertilizer, but my
Medieval History professors agree with me...in fact, htey were even less
flattering in their descriptions.
Eadric Blackhammer
F.L. Watkins
The worst thing about Manchester's _A World Lit Only by Fire_ is
that it is so well-written. I had such a good time reading it that
I almost forgot that he got his sources from outdated books and
committed enough errors in the stuff that I knew about that I
couldn't really trust what he said about stuff I didn't know about.
Consider it a novel and enjoy.
Yrs, Folo
--
Damin de Folo - F.L.Watkins - fo...@prairienet.org
Baron Wurm Wald (MidRealm) - Commander Baldwin's (NWTA)
"She said, 'You're a living legend.' I said, 'Thank you kindly, ma'am.'
She said, 'Don't be so smug; I don't mean good.'" --Hoyt Axton
Susan Carroll-Clark
Every so often a really bad book is picked up by a major publishing
house and marketed to the popular market. Because it's a "book of the
month" selection or some such thing, lots of libraries buy it.
This is what's happened with "A World Lit Only By Fire". It's
on a trendy subject (the Middle Ages and Renaissance) and has a catchy
title and cover. But I've not heard one good thing about it. For
one thing, most historians have discarded the idea that there
was a dark period until "poof!" Petrarch stepped forward and the world
was bathed in th the Renaissance. Hooey. And that's
essentially what Manchester sayss.
Cheers--
Nicolaa/Susan
Canton of Eoforwic
scl...@epas.utoronto.ca
Steve Parker
da> I recently checked out 2 books from the library. One was _A World Lit
da> Only by Fire_ by William Manchester. I read about 30 pages of it last
da> night and was somewhat disturbed by the general tone. Manchester
da> seems to be of the opinion that nothing of importance happened between
da> the fall of Rome and the glorious birth of humanism in the
da> Rennaisance. He also seems to be unaware of a literary device known as
da> a footnote. I'm wondering if anybody else has read it and what their
da> opinions are. I have little enough time for reading and no desire to
da> waste it on a useless book.
I recently acquired this book and am about 100 pages into it. Yes, I
find the tone of the book very negative about the middle ages, and
especially
about the catholic church. I will reserve judgement until I finish the
whole thing, but I'm not sure how good a source of information this is.
... "42? 7 and a half million years and all you can come up with is 42?!"
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Internet: Steve....@f350.n280.z1.fidonet.org