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

" Manchester took a challenging project and made it a very readable and interesting book. It was as good the second time around as the first time, years ago. Probably not for diehard Roman Catholics who do not challenge the status quo. "

" Extremely dry and eleitist in its language. He uses far too many dollar words when the quarter word would have improved the clarity much more. It's good research and scholarly, but very hard to read. I actually give my advanced world history students (9th grade) a 10-page section of this book at the start of the year. The purpose is twofold... 1) give them a decent background on the middle ages (because the class starts in the Renaissance) and 2) knock a few of the weaker kids out of the class. It works on both counts every year. "

" Historical. The Middle Ages, 600 years from A.D. 400 to A.D. 1000. Fairly Amazing. "

" Contains blatant falsehoods and misinformation. See page 200. "

" As a fan of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, I tore into this thick book hoping for a better insight onto the daily life of the knights, peasants, and painters of the era. Now, I know far too much about the Catholic church and how it was shattered by corrupt officers and their selling of indulgences among other highly questionable acts. The final section about Magellan was a revelation and a nice change from Anglican politics. His real life journey reads like a lost chapter from the Tales of the Black Freighter. An interesting book, but not what I was expecting. "

" I originally read this in high school and it is still enjoyable now. It's like reading a gossip column of the Renaissance. "

" An excellent introductory work on the Middle Ages. Manchester writes clearly and keeps the reader interested...no slogging through endless statistics and deadly heavy prose. Interesting and informative. "

" Interesting connections made centering on Ferdinand Magellan. "

" Highly readable. Great portrait of an age. Everyone should read this book! "

" This book covers the Medieval through Renaissance history of central Europe giving the reader a complete insight as to what series of events happened to move mankind out of medieval life and into an age of enlightment. I particularily liked the section on Magellan. "

" he's just way more impressed with magellan than i am. "

" A great book to read when you're sick of all the pulp fiction you're used to. "

" I think that this book more than most that I have read helps to really show what the world was like in the past. The extreme differences and how the culture looks at the outside world helped me to create a more realistic gaming world. "

" Well-written and easy to follow history of the medieval mind and times. It's taking me a while to soak in, but I'm enjoying it. "

" Hisory of Middle Ages "

" Amazing book. There are some arguments about how well-sourced the book is but really interesting to read the true story of the Pied Piper & other tales. "

" One of the best historical books I have ever read. Must read! "

" One of the best reads out of all the books I was required to read in college. "

" An elementary description of the medival world prior to the Renaissance. It amazed me that people were typically born, raised, lived and died within site of the same piece of property. People didn't wander off and explore for fear of getting hopelessly lost. "

" I like the detales included in the book. and how the book tells the stories of the time and give pictures and stuff including important people. "

" A must-read for all you history majors out there. "

" Entertaining, but of dubious historical quality. *adjust scarf, sneers* "

" One of the best historical books I have ever read. Must read! "

" A great read for history buffs, full of detail and the attention to detail that makes Manchester's histories read-worthy. "

" Very entertaining. Well-written and researched.Gives details about life in the Dark Ages. "

" Very informative. An interesting look at the dark ages and what was going on. "

" I've heard that the facts aren't perfect in this book, but as an overview of the dark ages it delivers interesting insight. I thoroughly enjoyed it. "

" Although it heads off-base in the latter third, this book present the European Renaissance through the lives of the people who lived it. Highly readable and deeply insightful. "

" Highly readable. Great portrait of an age. Everyone should read this book! "

" I originally read this in high school and it is still enjoyable now. It's like reading a gossip column of the Renaissance. "

" I had to read this book for my Social AP class. I must say, it was like reading 100+ pages of Wikipedia. Although I tried to keep an open mind about it, I just could not read it all. Needless to say, the essay I had to write for this was absolutely horrible. "

" . . . never knew what it was like during the period. This is one of my favorite books "