Charlemagne

by Johannes Fried Narrated by James Cameron Stewart

Overview

When the legendary Frankish king and emperor Charlemagne died in 814 he left behind a dominion and a legacy unlike anything seen in Western Europe since the fall of Rome. Johannes Fried paints a compelling portrait of a devout ruler, a violent time, and a unified kingdom that deepens our understanding of the man often called the father of Europe.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

08/29/2016
In this splendid biography, Fried (The Middle Ages), retired professor of medieval history at the University of Frankfurt, shows that Charlemagne remains a figured to be reckoned with even 12 centuries after his death. The book, excellently translated by Lewis, is arranged by topic, rather than chronology. This format helps to clearly present a broad picture. The importance of religion is stressed throughout the book, and Fried makes clear that from childhood Charlemagne understood that “the principal task of any ruler was to wage war.” The combination of his Christianity and his martial nature resulted in a 30-year war with the Saxons (772–804). Fried also elucidates the role the Franks played in Spain, both in the battle against the Basques at Roncevalles (778) and in later dealings with the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates. Charlemagne’s coronation in Rome as Holy Roman Emperor in 800 is examined from political and military viewpoints; Fried believes that Charlemagne, rather than Pope Leo III, was in control of the situation and had initiated the coronation. Other chapters cover court life, the revival of classical education, and Charlemagne’s determination to establish law and order in his domains. Fried stresses eschatological beliefs a bit more than necessary, perhaps because he’s studied them so extensively. This is a magisterial study of the life and times of the Frankish king who became the first Holy Roman Emperor. (Oct.)

Wall Street Journal - Michael Kulikowski

Charlemagne is relentless in the accumulation of detail and austerely comprehensive in its endnotes… This Charles the Great is unmistakably Karl der Grosse… Matching the mood of our times, blood-flecked Realpolitik and smoldering religious intolerance are very much to the fore… Few [Charlemagne biographies] capture so well the unlovely realities of Carolingian politics and the sheer technical difficulty of ruling a medieval empire in the absence of a state apparatus.

Maclean’s - Brian Bethune

Fried is a retired professor of medieval history but also thoroughly contemporary, a gleeful debunker who spends many pages demonstrating that the relatively few ‘known facts’ about Charlemagne rest on shaky foundations…The biography offers a first-rate survey of the war-torn eighth century.

Seattle Book Review - Philip Zozzaro

Johannes Fried has put forth a valiant effort in untangling the wheat from the chaff in Charles the Great’s life. Charlemagne is viewed as a flawed leader who cared about his kingdom and his religion, even if his approach could be questioned. An excellent view of a mysterious monarch.

Sara Perley

An engaging and delightful read. It is well placed to foster curiosity and shed light on a lesser known period of history and this ‘late dark-age’ king…Lewis’s translation of Fried’s work is successful in exposing a side of Charlemagne that most works do not. The translation provides English readers with a considered account of Charlemagne’s educational ideals, his relationship with Christianity and the Papacy and his attempts to construct a unified kingdom in something of an unstable world. The author creates a Charlemagne who tried his best to provide for his people in their physical lives as well as their afterlives…It is one of the most accessible and perhaps well-rounded accounts of Charlemagne currently available.

Open Letters Monthly - Steve Donoghue

[A] big, immensely satisfying life of the semi-legendary medieval Frankish king Charlemagne…[and] expertly translated by Peter Lewis… Instead of a legend, Fried builds a convincingly three-dimensional portrait of a man—a complicated, forceful, often contradictory man… There has never been a Charlemagne biography to appear in English that comes close to matching this big book from Fried… Fried has come as close as we’re every likely to get to knowing the man.

Foreign Affairs - Andrew Moravcsik

For those who wish to grapple with Charlemagne’s life in its entirety, without false certainties, Fried’s book is the best choice.

From the Publisher

"This is a magisterial study of the life and times of the Frankish king who became the first Holy Roman Emperor." ---Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"This is a magisterial study of the life and times of the Frankish king who became the first Holy Roman Emperor." —Publishers Weekly

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171243166
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	09/12/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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