It was an interesting listen, but in the end there was just too much information to digest in one book: from Constantine's conversion to the First Crusade. By the time we got to the first crusade, it seemed as though Bauer was racing through the material. But by coming on the back of Bury's book, I do feel that I have a better feel for the movement of the Germanic tribes, first out of the Baltic region to the Danube basin and the Black Sea, for those peoples that we have come to recognize as Gothic, and also for the northern people who moved across the Rhine--the Franks, the Lombards, the Alan, Allemany, Vandals, Suebi and the Saxons.
The material on China, Japan, Korea, India, and the Americas, while making the book comprehensive in scope, really seemed extraneous to the telling of the story, which really centered around Europe and the Mediterranean. And really, what it came down to, was one king following another king, trying to establish some kind of dynastic succession, whether in Byzantium or somewhere in Europe. The Germans seemed more resistant to the idea, dividing their lands among the sons to see who would come out stronger.
The whole idea of papal supremacy, developed during this time, was total bullshit, of course, made very clear when Otto came down from the Eastern German lands and established his own popes on the apostolic see in 964. I had thought of the Huns as sweeping out of the Asian steppes, but really they were a part of the whole political intriguing and scheming going on at the time. And as the Turks and the Mongols demonstrated, they were just one of many peoples to cross the steppes and appear on Europe's doorstep. But overall, it comes down as good story telling.
Author: Bauer, Susan Wise
Date Published: 2010
Length: 22hr 44min
Narrator: Lee, John
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