 First edition | |
| Author | Barbara Tuchman |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Crisis of the Late Middle Ages |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
Publication date | 1978 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (paperback, hardcover) |
| Awards | National Book Award, 1980 |
| ISBN | 978-0-394-40026-6 |
| OCLC | 3870107 |
A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century is anarrative history book by the American historianBarbara Tuchman, first published byAlfred A. Knopf in 1978.It won a 1980 U.S.National Book Awardin History.[1][a]
The main title,A Distant Mirror, conveys Tuchman's thesis that the death and suffering of the 14th century reflect those of the 20th century, particularly the horrors ofWorld War I and the ominous prospect of nuclear war threatening her time.[2]
The book's focus is theCrisis of the late Middle Ages which caused widespread suffering in Europe in the 14th century. Drawing heavily onFroissart's Chronicles, Tuchman recounts the histories of theHundred Years' War, theBlack Plague, thePapal Schism, pillagingmercenaries,anti-Semitism, popular revolts including theJacquerie in France, theliberation of Switzerland, theBattle of the Golden Spurs, and various peasant uprisings. She also discusses the advance of theIslamicOttoman Empire into Europe until the disastrousBattle of Nicopolis. However, Tuchman's scope is not limited to political and religious events. She begins with a discussion of theLittle Ice Age, a change in climate that reduced average temperatures in Europe well into the mid-19th century, and describes the lives of all social classes, including nobility, clergy, and peasantry.[3]
Much of the narrative is woven around the life of the French noblemanEnguerrand de Coucy. Tuchman chose him as a central figure partly because his life spanned much of the 14th century, from 1340 to 1397. A powerful French noble who marriedIsabella, eldest daughter ofEdward III of England, Coucy's ties put him in the middle of events.
A Distant Mirror received much popular acclaim. A reviewer inHistory Today described it as an enthralling work full of "vivid pen-portraits".[4] InThe Spectator,David Benson called it "an exciting and even bracing" book which did away with many sentimental myths about the Middle Ages.[5] It also received a favorable review in theLos Angeles Times.[6]
However, scholarly reaction was lukewarm. In the journalSpeculum, Charles T. Wood praised Tuchman's narrative abilities but described the book as a "curiously dated and old-fashioned work" and criticized it for being shaped by the political concerns of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.[7]Bernard S. Bachrach criticized Tuchman's reliance on secondary sources and dated translations of medieval narratives at the expense of archival research, and characterized the book as a whole as "a readable fourteenth-century version of the Fuzz n' Wuz (cops and corpses) that dominates the evening news on television."[8] Thomas Ohlgren agreed with many of Bachrach's criticisms, and further took issue with many perceived anachronisms in Tuchman's characterization of the medieval world and a lack of scholarly rigor.[9]William McNeill, writing in theChicago Tribune, thought thatA Distant Mirror, while well-written on a technical level, did not present an intelligible picture of the period.[10]
David Dunham reviewedA Distant Mirror forDifferent Worlds magazine and stated that "The information density is fairly high, and it's quite readable. I recommendA Distant Mirror to anyone interested in learning more about the middle ages."[11]
The book inspiredKatherine Hoover to write her compositionMedieval Suite.[12]
As of 2023[update], all editions are re-printings with identical pagination and contents (xx, 677 pages).
