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Becoming Charlemagne: Europe, Baghdad, and the Empires of AD 800
On Christmas morning in the year 800, Pope Leo III placed the crown of imperial Rome on the brow of a Germanic king named Karl. With one gesture, the man later hailed as Charlemagne claimed his empire and forever shaped the destiny of Europe. Becoming Charlemagne tells the story of the international power struggle that led to this world-changing event.
Illuminating an era that has long been overshadowed by legend, this far-ranging book shows how the Frankish king and his wise counselors built an empire not only through warfare but also by careful diplomacy. With consummate political skill, Charlemagne partnered with a scandal-ridden pope, fended off a ruthless Byzantine empress, nurtured Jewish communities in his empire, and fostered ties with a famous Islamic caliph. For 1,200 years, the deeds of Charlemagne captured the imagination of his descendants, inspiring kings and crusaders, the conquests of Napoléon and Hitler, and the optimistic architects of the European Union.
In this engaging narrative, Jeff Sypeck crafts a vivid portrait of Karl, the ruler who became a legend, while transporting readers far beyond Europe to the glittering palaces of Constantinople and the streets of medieval Baghdad. Evoking a long-ago world of kings, caliphs, merchants, and monks, Becoming Charlemagne brings alive an age of empire building that continues to resonate today.
Illuminating an era that has long been overshadowed by legend, this far-ranging book shows how the Frankish king and his wise counselors built an empire not only through warfare but also by careful diplomacy. With consummate political skill, Charlemagne partnered with a scandal-ridden pope, fended off a ruthless Byzantine empress, nurtured Jewish communities in his empire, and fostered ties with a famous Islamic caliph. For 1,200 years, the deeds of Charlemagne captured the imagination of his descendants, inspiring kings and crusaders, the conquests of Napoléon and Hitler, and the optimistic architects of the European Union.
In this engaging narrative, Jeff Sypeck crafts a vivid portrait of Karl, the ruler who became a legend, while transporting readers far beyond Europe to the glittering palaces of Constantinople and the streets of medieval Baghdad. Evoking a long-ago world of kings, caliphs, merchants, and monks, Becoming Charlemagne brings alive an age of empire building that continues to resonate today.
284 pages, Hardcover
First published November 21, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
May 12, 2015
I reviewed this for Kirkus a few years back.
March 21, 2018
I read this book for a class, and although it wasn't something I will rave about and read again (simply because it is more academic than pleasure-reading), I did enjoy it. I loved how Sypeck told multiple stories, but wove them together, to show how different cultures coexisted at one time.
It reads less like a textbook and more like a historical novel, which made it much easier to absorb than some of the denser academic books I've read. If you like Charlemagne or European history, give it a try!
It reads less like a textbook and more like a historical novel, which made it much easier to absorb than some of the denser academic books I've read. If you like Charlemagne or European history, give it a try!
June 26, 2010
"Becoming Charlemagne" is definitely history light, and a quick read which seems almost more like a historical novel than a stab at a history book. Sypeck spends a great deal of time trying to recreate what sights and sounds of places like Charlemagne's rural mountainside court in Aachen, or the colorful, corrupt streets of Constantinople. While these recreations are mostly fun to read, by the end of the book I felt like I had been reading more of Sypecks flights of imagination than actual history. Unfortunately, Sypeck also delights in melodramatic cliffhangers, so that you can almost hear a "dun, dun, DUN!!!" with the close of every chapter.
July 10, 2007
I've read many books on the Medieval period and Charlemagne in the last two years. This is now one of my favorites.
Jeff Sypeck put the events of the period in a context which allows the reader to understand the various political forces competing against one another during that era, and the skill used by King Charles which ultimately led to him being referred to as King Charles the Great or Charlemagne.
I had read mentions of Empress Irene of the Byzantine Empire, but her villainy and treachery never really impressed me until reading Sypeck's version. This time it took on the magnitude worthy of Shakespearean tragedies.
The lives of Jews during the time of Charlemagne is a topic I had not seen mentioned at any length in the other various books I read, and Sypeck devoted a chapter to discussing how their treatment which by and large are hidden in the historical record. Charlemagne did not persecute Jews as he did those in his realm who worshiped pagan idols. Many Jews were educated, well-traveled, merchants, and officials in the royal courts.
One Jew was sent by Charlemagne as an ambassador to Baghdad to speak with the leader of the Muslim empire, Harun al-Rashid.
It is the various acts of political gifts from one leader to another (Harun to Charlemagne) which were then perceived as a political slight by other leaders (Empress Irene) that I found most fascinating.
And then there is the dramatic saga of Pope Leo III and his attempted assassination that underscores the dramatic story of Charlemagne's coronation as Emperor.
This isn't dry history with a simple recitation of facts, it is a story of intrigue brought to life.
You know that Shakespeare had to base his stories on something.
Jeff Sypeck put the events of the period in a context which allows the reader to understand the various political forces competing against one another during that era, and the skill used by King Charles which ultimately led to him being referred to as King Charles the Great or Charlemagne.
I had read mentions of Empress Irene of the Byzantine Empire, but her villainy and treachery never really impressed me until reading Sypeck's version. This time it took on the magnitude worthy of Shakespearean tragedies.
The lives of Jews during the time of Charlemagne is a topic I had not seen mentioned at any length in the other various books I read, and Sypeck devoted a chapter to discussing how their treatment which by and large are hidden in the historical record. Charlemagne did not persecute Jews as he did those in his realm who worshiped pagan idols. Many Jews were educated, well-traveled, merchants, and officials in the royal courts.
One Jew was sent by Charlemagne as an ambassador to Baghdad to speak with the leader of the Muslim empire, Harun al-Rashid.
It is the various acts of political gifts from one leader to another (Harun to Charlemagne) which were then perceived as a political slight by other leaders (Empress Irene) that I found most fascinating.
And then there is the dramatic saga of Pope Leo III and his attempted assassination that underscores the dramatic story of Charlemagne's coronation as Emperor.
This isn't dry history with a simple recitation of facts, it is a story of intrigue brought to life.
You know that Shakespeare had to base his stories on something.
October 19, 2017
Focuses on 796 to 802, with long interludes in Constantinople and Baghdad. I really enjoyed his writing style and had never considered the world events and far-flung rulers that contributed to Karl becoming Karl the Great, then becoming enshrouded in the myth that Charlemagne became.
August 25, 2020
brief book.. decent intro
February 9, 2023
Very quick read but in terms of idea development, this book has been too oversimplified for the sake of a wider audience. Mostly, it just left me wanting to read a more substantial history on Charlemagne rather than recommending this one.
March 27, 2008
"The landscape of history is not alone the solid earth of fact; above must spread the rolling cloudbanks of imagination."
-- Donald J. Grout, Preface to the First Edition of A Short History of Opera
"Becoming Charlemagne: Europe, Baghdad, and the Empires of A. D. 800" is a surprisingly suspenseful and beautifully written account of the years immediately preceding the Christmas morning in A. D. 800 when Karl, King of the Franks, became Charlemagne, the "first emperor in Rome in nearly 400 years."
In tracing the confluence of political forces which led to Karl's coronation, Jeff Sypeck provides plenty of the solid earth of fact, and then he rolls out the cloudbanks of imagination to wonderful effect. The book offers a vivid glimpse of different people, cities, and cultures at discrete moments in history and at the same time provides a sense of history's sweep and tragedy. I love the blending of the two sensibilities -- that of the reader of history, who, in a general sense, knows how it all turns out, and that of the actor in history, who touchingly and sometimes tragically doesn't.
Listen, for instance, to this pitch-perfect tale of the fate of the Barmakid family, the most prominent members of the kuttab, the brilliant "administrative elite" of Harun al-Rashid's Baghdad:
"Although their story is lost in myth and poetry, the Barmakids were clearly intertwined with the Abbasids in complex ways. Yahya's sons Fadl and Jafar quickly rose to prominence. The flamboyant Jafar was the close friend who shares Harun's adventures in the pages of The Arabian Nights; Fadl was thought to be confident and more responsible. The brothers moved from one prestigious job to another at the whim of the caliph -- governorships, military commands, the vizierate, authority over countless lives -- but they also had the dubious honor of grooming the caliph's sons for succession. Most people saw them only when they needed to petition the government, but the Barmakids' wine parties and literary salons were the talk of Baghdad. Picture them in their black-tailed turbans, raising a cup of wine, laughing with the friends, enjoying a rousing musical performance, secure in the knowledge that they are the elite: feared, admired, praised, and loved."
"In a few years, in an incident that will shock the average Baghdadi and forever baffle historians, Harun will destroy them all." "Yahya and his sons Fadl and Jafar will be arrested. Jafar will be executed in the middle of the night; his dismembered body will hang from a bridge in Baghdad. Harun will confiscate all of the Barmakids' belongings and arrest their closest confidants. The poets they patronized so liberally will lament their downfall."
"Speculation will fly. Some people will tell the improbable tale that Jafar had married Harun's favorite sister Abbasa as a formality so the girl could join their drinking parties without arousing scandal. According to this rumor, Harun became infuriated on learning that his confidant and his sister had become more than friends. Like many stories about Harun and Jafar, this one will never be confirmed, but it will be remembered and enshrined in The Arabian Nights."
"But for now, the Barmakids were still makers of manners, feasting on delicacies by lamplight and running the Abbasid caliphate, oblivious of their fate. In the end, no one would ever know why Harun destroyed his foster father and his closest friends, except for Harun himself. And he, as usual, was nowhere to be found."
Becoming Charlemagne abounds with numerous such narrative gems, glittering with compelling historical detail, prodigious imagination, and beautiful prose.
-- Donald J. Grout, Preface to the First Edition of A Short History of Opera
"Becoming Charlemagne: Europe, Baghdad, and the Empires of A. D. 800" is a surprisingly suspenseful and beautifully written account of the years immediately preceding the Christmas morning in A. D. 800 when Karl, King of the Franks, became Charlemagne, the "first emperor in Rome in nearly 400 years."
In tracing the confluence of political forces which led to Karl's coronation, Jeff Sypeck provides plenty of the solid earth of fact, and then he rolls out the cloudbanks of imagination to wonderful effect. The book offers a vivid glimpse of different people, cities, and cultures at discrete moments in history and at the same time provides a sense of history's sweep and tragedy. I love the blending of the two sensibilities -- that of the reader of history, who, in a general sense, knows how it all turns out, and that of the actor in history, who touchingly and sometimes tragically doesn't.
Listen, for instance, to this pitch-perfect tale of the fate of the Barmakid family, the most prominent members of the kuttab, the brilliant "administrative elite" of Harun al-Rashid's Baghdad:
"Although their story is lost in myth and poetry, the Barmakids were clearly intertwined with the Abbasids in complex ways. Yahya's sons Fadl and Jafar quickly rose to prominence. The flamboyant Jafar was the close friend who shares Harun's adventures in the pages of The Arabian Nights; Fadl was thought to be confident and more responsible. The brothers moved from one prestigious job to another at the whim of the caliph -- governorships, military commands, the vizierate, authority over countless lives -- but they also had the dubious honor of grooming the caliph's sons for succession. Most people saw them only when they needed to petition the government, but the Barmakids' wine parties and literary salons were the talk of Baghdad. Picture them in their black-tailed turbans, raising a cup of wine, laughing with the friends, enjoying a rousing musical performance, secure in the knowledge that they are the elite: feared, admired, praised, and loved."
"In a few years, in an incident that will shock the average Baghdadi and forever baffle historians, Harun will destroy them all." "Yahya and his sons Fadl and Jafar will be arrested. Jafar will be executed in the middle of the night; his dismembered body will hang from a bridge in Baghdad. Harun will confiscate all of the Barmakids' belongings and arrest their closest confidants. The poets they patronized so liberally will lament their downfall."
"Speculation will fly. Some people will tell the improbable tale that Jafar had married Harun's favorite sister Abbasa as a formality so the girl could join their drinking parties without arousing scandal. According to this rumor, Harun became infuriated on learning that his confidant and his sister had become more than friends. Like many stories about Harun and Jafar, this one will never be confirmed, but it will be remembered and enshrined in The Arabian Nights."
"But for now, the Barmakids were still makers of manners, feasting on delicacies by lamplight and running the Abbasid caliphate, oblivious of their fate. In the end, no one would ever know why Harun destroyed his foster father and his closest friends, except for Harun himself. And he, as usual, was nowhere to be found."
Becoming Charlemagne abounds with numerous such narrative gems, glittering with compelling historical detail, prodigious imagination, and beautiful prose.
February 22, 2018
A book about the coronation of Charles the Great and with it the foundation of Western Europe. This book primarily takes place between 789 and 800 AD. This book is a YA version of history and uses way too many "might haves, and could of's". The Author tries to invoke the period with description of everyday life but even that felt tact on. That and the completely unnecessary chapter on the bringing of the white elephant from Baghdad to Aachen (Ill summarize, group of ambassadors go to Baghdad, Abassids could care less, Send White elephant back as gift, nothing much happened on the way back but it could of been bad but it wasn't) makes this book cloying at best. It is well sourced and the information in it is accurate but I dislike this type of history book and besides that it just doesn't work as anything other than a primer thus my opinion of it being a history book for the Young Adult (YA) crown.
September 18, 2021
Had a bout of insomnia last night and stayed up to read this. Mostly focusing on the relations the Franks had with the Byzantine Empire, the Abbasid Empire and the Pope. There's only a couple of sentences about Roland, sadly.
The author has this way of speculating about how the players must have reacted physically. "Charlemagne must have sighed and sat down," or whatever. It's really annoying at first but I think I've come around to it.
My big problem with the book is that it only covers four years in the Big C's reign. The author argues that its the four most important years. We pick up the book and Charlemagne already owns most of Europe, and then the book ends with him returning to Aachen with his elephant but also skips ahead to his sons breaking up of his empire.
It's a good book I was just sleep deprived.
The author has this way of speculating about how the players must have reacted physically. "Charlemagne must have sighed and sat down," or whatever. It's really annoying at first but I think I've come around to it.
My big problem with the book is that it only covers four years in the Big C's reign. The author argues that its the four most important years. We pick up the book and Charlemagne already owns most of Europe, and then the book ends with him returning to Aachen with his elephant but also skips ahead to his sons breaking up of his empire.
It's a good book I was just sleep deprived.
May 10, 2018
Meh. This book aims to provide a colorized version of the life of Charlemagne, his life and times. It's trying to be a Devil in the White City-esque blend of narrative, detail and description on the one hand and historical context and framing on the other. Less than terrific writing makes the narrative not that compelling - though I will say that the author, Jeff Sypeck, does have his moments. For example, the second chapter of the book opens with a terrific, provocative, decontextualized sentence:
Unfortunately, the writing overall felt showy and sophomoric. Sypeck uses a few narrative devices so often that they feel worn out before you're halfway done with the book - e.g., the events of the life of Charlemagne as seen by his subjects while out plowing their fields. So whenever he travels from one place to another, we get an inevitable perspective shift to the peasants watching his retinue go by as it passes his land, and when he goes out to war, we see his armies passing from the vantage of a local farmer, or whatever. It's the kind of thing that's nice to do once, but quickly becomes tedious when repeated.
Additionally, the book focuses on people and events that just don't seem incredibly central to the story of Charlemagne's life. For example, an opening chapter focuses exclusively on the machinations of the rulers of the Byzantine empire at the time of Charlemagne's reign, making you think that these internecine family quarrels are going to tie directly into his story. But they don't - after that initial detour into Constantinople we get a few cursory references to events there throughout the rest of the book, but for the most part there's nothing.
Likewise a discussion of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad and the reign of Harun al-Rashid - there's a huge initial effort at fixing the places, people and context in the Islamic world during Charlemagne's reign, and you expect there's going to be some big payoff in terms of how his life story connects to theirs. But no - the biggest overlap is (spoiler alert) that the caliph at one point gives Charlemagne an elephant. An elephant whose travels from Baghdad to Germany take up an unreasonably large portion of the book's narrative.
This could have been a good book - I feel like it's one of those projects that really needed a hard-headed editor who could discipline the author's choices. But this is not that book. Instead it's kind of a mishmash: very enjoyable and readable at parts, but rambling and unfocused a significant amount of the time. I wouldn't strongly recommend, as I assume there are better books out there for people looking for an overview of Charlemagne's life.
There would have been a lot of blood.
Unfortunately, the writing overall felt showy and sophomoric. Sypeck uses a few narrative devices so often that they feel worn out before you're halfway done with the book - e.g., the events of the life of Charlemagne as seen by his subjects while out plowing their fields. So whenever he travels from one place to another, we get an inevitable perspective shift to the peasants watching his retinue go by as it passes his land, and when he goes out to war, we see his armies passing from the vantage of a local farmer, or whatever. It's the kind of thing that's nice to do once, but quickly becomes tedious when repeated.
Additionally, the book focuses on people and events that just don't seem incredibly central to the story of Charlemagne's life. For example, an opening chapter focuses exclusively on the machinations of the rulers of the Byzantine empire at the time of Charlemagne's reign, making you think that these internecine family quarrels are going to tie directly into his story. But they don't - after that initial detour into Constantinople we get a few cursory references to events there throughout the rest of the book, but for the most part there's nothing.
Likewise a discussion of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad and the reign of Harun al-Rashid - there's a huge initial effort at fixing the places, people and context in the Islamic world during Charlemagne's reign, and you expect there's going to be some big payoff in terms of how his life story connects to theirs. But no - the biggest overlap is (spoiler alert) that the caliph at one point gives Charlemagne an elephant. An elephant whose travels from Baghdad to Germany take up an unreasonably large portion of the book's narrative.
This could have been a good book - I feel like it's one of those projects that really needed a hard-headed editor who could discipline the author's choices. But this is not that book. Instead it's kind of a mishmash: very enjoyable and readable at parts, but rambling and unfocused a significant amount of the time. I wouldn't strongly recommend, as I assume there are better books out there for people looking for an overview of Charlemagne's life.
February 16, 2024
This is the book version of when you've already increased the margins and font size on that college paper, but you're still 2 pages shy. Sypeck fills page after page with speculative bloviation and creative imaginings, all tethered by only the loosest of connections to the historical record. Okay fine, you wanted an emphasis on narrative, to make history come alive, yeah? WRONG. Despite all the fanciful yarn-spinning, it barely hangs together! Characters are introduced (Isaac the Jew, Caliph Harun, Pope Leo, Karl's kids, etc.) but are given no intelligible context nor are their paths traced with any clarity. The only figures that received any meaningful characterization are maybe Empress Irene and Alcuin of York. Sypeck jumps around to different locales and events, but forgets to explain why they matter or how they're connected. You would frankly learn more about Charlemagne by skimming the Wikipedia article than you will reading this. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging the paucity of the historical record and trying to sketch some details, but this book is constructed almost entirely of goofball musings about the dreams of peasants toiling in the field and riffing on imaginary reactions to an elephant. HARD PASS.
February 15, 2018
A good book, providing an overview of the life and legends of the Frankish King Karl the Great, known to history as Charlemagne. Providing an in-depth commentary on the European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern worlds before and after the year 800, this history helps better understand the environment in which the legend of Charlemagne was created. From the developing communities of Central Europe, through the still imposing edifice of Catholic Rome, on to the declining power of Byzantium, and finally to the foreign cultures of Baghdad, we see the various interactions that made up the surprisingly connected world of the Dark Ages. The book continuously pushes a theme of contrasts, the real Karl versus the legend of Charlemagne, the Frankish warrior culture to the Byzantine metropolitan culture, and the confused muddle of Rome to the stately elegance of Baghdad. It is an enjoyable book, with an ending that helps make sense of why a powerful but fairly average Frankish King became the founding father of modern Europe. A great book for those wanting to know more about the Dark Ages and its interconnected world.
December 25, 2019
The pros of this book are that it contains much about Charlemagne, or Karl, that I never knew; it also gives insight into some important figures during that time, such as the Empress Irene. Unfortunately, the con nearly outweighs the pros in my reading. The book promises a study of “Europe, Baghdad, and the Empires of A.D. 800.” Baghdad is given a brief chapter wherein the caliph is introduced. The caliph and Muslim influences are some of the most interesting mentions in the book, but the author fails to really paint more of a picture of the two at all, which is odd considering he dedicates his subtitle to “Baghdad” as a promised study.
Karl (Charlemagne) is given a great portrait in a real, human way. The author does well with a scant amount of surviving evidence of Karl and his character. I particularly enjoyed descriptions involving Alcuin, a man of faith and of the cloth who was close to Karl during his reign.
Overall, I value the book due to its offering of new learning. However, it fell short in its scope- it promised much, but in the end delivered little.
Karl (Charlemagne) is given a great portrait in a real, human way. The author does well with a scant amount of surviving evidence of Karl and his character. I particularly enjoyed descriptions involving Alcuin, a man of faith and of the cloth who was close to Karl during his reign.
Overall, I value the book due to its offering of new learning. However, it fell short in its scope- it promised much, but in the end delivered little.
March 19, 2020
Charles the Great (who lived from 742 to 814), which literally means "Charles Magnus" or Charlemagne as he would become known, was king of the Franks and created one of the largest European empires since the collapse of Rome; he presided over present-day France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and other territories.
He brought about the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture that predated the Italian Renaissance by centuries and helped to establish a uniform European culture. He ruled all of the Christianized western provinces, except the British Isles, that had once been part of the Roman Empire.
He somehow found time to get married to five different women and have relationships with several concubines. He fathered around 18 children. If there was one soft spot in the emperor's heart, it was for his kids, as he supported the education of both his sons and daughters.
He brought about the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture that predated the Italian Renaissance by centuries and helped to establish a uniform European culture. He ruled all of the Christianized western provinces, except the British Isles, that had once been part of the Roman Empire.
He somehow found time to get married to five different women and have relationships with several concubines. He fathered around 18 children. If there was one soft spot in the emperor's heart, it was for his kids, as he supported the education of both his sons and daughters.
May 31, 2018
The appeal of Sypeck's history of Europe and Middle East during the 9th Century lies in his light, breezy storytelling technique. He does not have the gravitas that Tuchman has (A Distant Mirror) nor is it laden with footnotes and sources. He colors his figures and their backgrounds with the gloss that makes it accessible--I'm thinking it could be a beach read for History lovers.
I gained a sense of the age that Karl (Charlemagne) lived in and for this I am grateful. What helps me recommend it, however, is the final chapters; reading how his sons and his grandsons squandered the Holy Roman Empire into fractional, internecine wars I found akin to the rise of Islam and also seemed like the stuff Shakespeare would bend into King Lear.
I gained a sense of the age that Karl (Charlemagne) lived in and for this I am grateful. What helps me recommend it, however, is the final chapters; reading how his sons and his grandsons squandered the Holy Roman Empire into fractional, internecine wars I found akin to the rise of Islam and also seemed like the stuff Shakespeare would bend into King Lear.
September 16, 2017
This is a compact book that gives the reader a feel for the life of early Medieval Europe as well as elucidating the importance of Charlemagne in shaping Europe. In addition to describing the king and his primitive court at Aachen we learn about the role of the Church and the king's relations to the papacy. We also learn of the strained relations to the Eastern Roman empire at Constantinople and an unusual concord with the Abbasid caliphate, since they too were at odds with Constantinople. The moslems even sent Karl an elephant! I was watching a Great Courses series on the Middle Ages and so this book fit nicely with those lectures. It is colorfully written and fast paced.
January 22, 2021
This is not a biography of Charlemagne. Rather, it is an enjoyable and highly readable retelling of the events surrounding the crowning of Karl, King of the Franks, as the Emperor of the Romans in 800 A.D. It ties in events happening at the capital of the eastern empire (Constantinople) under the Empress Irene and, to a lesser degree, at Baghdad under Harun al-Rashid. A side thread is the delivery to Aachen (Karl's capital) of an elephant-- a gift from Harun. The final chapter traces in brief the Charlemagne of legend. There are 42 pages of notes concerning sources and an extensive bibliography (18 pg) for those who would like to investigate further.
February 1, 2018
A delightful introduction to the autumn years of the King of the Franks, Karl who became an Emperor of Rome, and now, more popularly, Charlemagne.
It is unfortunate we moderns call the era of Karl, King of Francia, the Dark Ages as it was anything but.
At first I thought Jeff Sypeck's book was aimed at the younger reader. It is, however, while short, dense and deeply researched, as Sypeck is professor of Medieval literature. This slim volume makes me want to read a more detailed biography of the man and myth, Charlemagne.
It is unfortunate we moderns call the era of Karl, King of Francia, the Dark Ages as it was anything but.
At first I thought Jeff Sypeck's book was aimed at the younger reader. It is, however, while short, dense and deeply researched, as Sypeck is professor of Medieval literature. This slim volume makes me want to read a more detailed biography of the man and myth, Charlemagne.
April 30, 2022
Good things about this book:
I knew nothing about Charlemagne before I read it and now I know a lot.
The author puts Charlemagne in a global context, emphasizing the importance of Byzantium and the Abbasid caliphate in his coronation as emperor.
Bad thing about this book:
The author relies on tired misogynist, nationalist, and Orientalist tropes to describe Byzantines and Arabs.
The dust cover describes the author as professor of Medieval lit at a University of Maryland campus, but google says he’s an independent scholar. Makes you wonder why he left the academy.
I knew nothing about Charlemagne before I read it and now I know a lot.
The author puts Charlemagne in a global context, emphasizing the importance of Byzantium and the Abbasid caliphate in his coronation as emperor.
Bad thing about this book:
The author relies on tired misogynist, nationalist, and Orientalist tropes to describe Byzantines and Arabs.
The dust cover describes the author as professor of Medieval lit at a University of Maryland campus, but google says he’s an independent scholar. Makes you wonder why he left the academy.
February 5, 2025
I suppose it wasn’t a bad start to learning about the “Father of Europe,” but I spent a lot more time learning about the other people he was connected to than him. Maybe that’s because he and his era are semi-lost to time, but I would’ve liked to know how the man who inadvertently made Europe was made. I was left wondering a lot more than I feel I should’ve been, and that’s not even counting the blatant fictionally wistful musings that have nothing to do with historical fact. All in all though, a fairly engaging read and it is very thoroughly sourced.
August 17, 2023
Het leek mij interessant om eens een biografie van Karel de Grote te lezen, maar wat een teleurstelling. Er is niet zo heel veel over hem bekend en daar heeft dit boek niets aan veranderd. Daarbij matig geschreven met veel asides om het verhaal nog een beetje body te geven. Ik heb de geschiedenis met paus Leo nog even nagelezen bij Norwich in zijn geschiedenis van alle pausen. Daar werd ik in een bladzijde een stuk wijzer van dan uit dit boek.
December 24, 2021
It’s not a fiction, it’s not a historical fiction, and it’s definitely not a history book. 70 pages in, and not a single footnote, reference, or scholarly quote was all the leeway I could give the author before conceding that this is not worthy of investing the time to go through the remaining 300ish pages.
September 10, 2017
I liked the beginning and ending, the middle was too bogged down in details for me. There were amusing lines throughout the book, I credit the author but need to quit reading biographies for pleasure.
February 15, 2018
I enjoyed the easy narrative - a good story of Karl becoming Charlemagne (800 AD). I was a little disappointed that the writing was light on cultural details. For example, I would have enjoyed some more insight on how people were thinking, reasoning, and imagining about cultural ideas.
August 6, 2018
Loved it. Who knew reading about something so long ago could be so enjoyable? I read this for my medieval Europe class and am so glad it was assigned because I don’t think I would have read it otherwise. I wish more history books were written with this accessibility.
January 25, 2020
Light, easy to read account of Charlemagne. I learned more about the relationship to the Eastern empire in Constantinople and relationships with the Abassid caliphate and how those were factors in Charles having himself recognized as Emperor.
February 15, 2021
Very easy to read, both in form and content. Pretty short and reads like a fantasy novel so you fly through. That is also a downside though, I wish it was a bit longer and dove a bit deeper. All in all though a fun, easy book about one of history's most iconic characters.
March 19, 2021
Took me forever to read. While informative is at variance with other historical views. Reader does not get any insight into the character involved as they are more snapshots aided by chunks of quotes.
Would be hand in ebook form and searchable.
Would be hand in ebook form and searchable.
September 19, 2022
It is a surprisingly light read for a book on history. I really enjoyed it though. Kudos to the writer for managing to make the ending tragic and dramatic in one sentence. Sypeck's writing style is very visual, so it was easy for me to imagine how life was like during that period.
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