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

Rather than detailing events in chronological order as many historical books do, Manchester takes us through subject by subject. Beginning with an explanation of the Medieval mind and how it came to be, Manchester goes on to address every possible aspect of life in the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods. In addition to recounting events of historic significance and discussing prominent people of the times, he takes us to the very core of Medieval being, describing in vivid detail the dress, eating habits, beliefs, and living conditions of all classes, from peasantry to nobility. The book closes with a section devoted to the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, telling of his voyage to circumnavigate the globe by which he inadvertantly helped bring about the twilight of an age.

There are some things which set this book apart from the bulk of scholarly historical texts I have read. Perhaps the most unique is its organization. Most historical texts begin at one point in time and continue on, year by year, until they reach the end of the period they are covering. Manchester has done things differently. He does not stick to a chronological line in his writing, but rather begins with one aspect of Medieval life and winds his way back and forth through each topic until everything has been told to satisfaction. Now, such a system might prove choppy if not for Manchester's great skill in weaving topics together. The crossover between one subject and the next is sometimes all but imperceptible. He takes one idea and, when finished with it, shows precisely how it ties in with the next. The writing is seamless. Manchester develops a beautiful literary illustration of the interconnectedness of different aspects of Medieval life. As he himself states in his note at the beginning of the book, "each event [leads] inexorably to another, then another..." (pg. XV).

The organization and fluency of the writing makes this book easy and pleasurable to read, but there is yet another feature which makes 'A World Lit Only By Fire' special. Manchester's tone brings the author to life. It is plain to see that he has his own opinions on what he is writing, and lets them come through with an easy humor that pokes fun at history's idiosyncrasies without being vicious. While one can see that he has some biases (and everyone does), he covers all aspects of an issue without letting his feelings distort it, but still managing to make his opinion known.

It is these characteristics, and a meticulous attention to detail, that separate Manchester's work from the ordinary, cut-and-dried textbook writing we see so often. It draws the reader in just as a novel might. The book is thorough and comprehensive, but the presentation makes it seem almost as if a story is being told. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about life in Medieval Europe.


European history as tabloid cover story   August 1, 2001
Matthew Kelleher
87 out of 108 found this review helpful

Having enjoyed William Manchester's works in the past, and being interested in the material supposedly covered in this book, I was prepared to enjoy A World Lit Only by Fire when I sat down with it. But, as much as I would have liked to, I couldn't.

Manchester states that he's no expert on the period, and neither am I, but even I could see the glaring and seemingly endless number of factual errors throughout the book, not to mention the myths (such as that of "la belle Ferroniere" and Francis I) he presents as fact. The book isn't really even about the Middle Ages, aside from twenty or so pages Manchester devotes to outlining that thousand years of European history. The majority of the book is dedicated to Renaissance and post-Renaissance Europe, and a sizable chunk of that is solely concerned with the career of Magellan.

This would be acceptable, of course, if Manchester's "history" wasn't just a rehash of 19th (!) century cliches and stereotypes about the Middle Ages: that is, a Europe composed wholly of mud, blood, sex, torture and ridiculous superstition, utterly worthless and depraved. And although I'm certainly not a fan of the Catholic Church, Manchester's endless cavalcade of largely unsubstantiated potshots at that institution is particularly annoying. If this book was someone's sole source of information on the time period, they'd be excused for thinking that Europe from the fall of Rome to the rediscovery of Classical culture in the Renaissance was pretty much composed of people expiring from sexually transmitted diseases... when they weren't poisoning popes and burning witches, that is.

So, why two stars and not one? A World Lit Only by Fire may be tabloid history, but it could be considered a guilty pleasure if you keep in mind that it's utter nonsense. The portion of the book dedicated to Magellan is also a cut above the rest. Given that the majority of readers will probably be utterly ignorant about this time period, though, it's pretty irresponsible of Manchester to present a bunch of unrelated half-truths and myths as history. He says in his Author's Note--along with various other veiled apologies--that he didn't plan out the writing of this book in advance and it certainly shows.

If you want to read about the time period covered in this book without sacrificing facts for readability (or vice versa), try A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman, the appropriate volumes of The Story of Civilization by Will Durant (The Age of Faith, The Renaissance, and The Reformation) or The Civilization of the Middle Ages by Norman Cantor. They show that reading about this period can be both entertaining and informative, even if there isn't a bloodthirsty, syphilitic twelve year-old bishop on every page.


REAL MEDIEVAL PESANTS ... TOTALLY NAKED!!!   August 4, 2003
James V. Sylvester (Austin, TX)
50 out of 66 found this review helpful

Is this some kind of joke?

As a young man, William Manchester served in WWII. He then pursued a career in journalism, spending time overseas. At some point he shifted to an academic career and compiled, probably in part from experience, biographies of Churchill, McArthur, and J. F. Kennedy -- safe territory for a journalist. His list of works include some fiction and essays; we can surmise that first and foremost, he is a writer, not an analyst, and certainly not a researcher.

As his "Author's Note" reveals, at the age of 70 during a convalesence, he decided to write a "portrait" of the 16th Century as a backdrop to a study of Magellan. In roughly two years he churned out "AWLOBF," notwithstanding the fact that his background in the 16th Century was no more than "the general familiarity of an educated man." As a result, his efforts to deposit ink on paper yielded a work that has an uncanny resemblance to recently used toilet paper.

Anyone should be suspicious of a book that provides firm dates for the death of Arthur and Robin Hood. (Chronology, p. X). Carless mistakes such as misidentifying Grand Duke Ivan III as the first Tsar of Russia (p. 35; Ivan IV (1533-1584) = first Tsar) serve only to shred its credibility.

As Manchester himself states, the book is "a slight work with no scholarly pretensions. All the sources are secondary, few are new. I have not mastered recent scholarship on the early sixteenth century." In fact, turning to his "Acknowledgements and Sources," we find that he gives credit above all to the Will Durant's "Story of Civilization" (ca. 1954) and the Encylopaedia Brittanica. In other words, we are blessed with a careless synthesis of dated general compilations, themselves compiled from dated secondary sources. The lack of attribution makes it impossible to discern the basis for Manchester's vast array of brazen assertions. Further, the engrafting of his "portrait of the age" upon the material concerning Magellan yields a singularly disjointed work.

It is particularly reprehensible that Manchester unquestioningly accepts scholarship that is invariably two or three generations old. The most prominent theme, repeated ad nauseam, is that someone turned the lights out in Europe in the latter part of the 5th Century and it was only through the sudden and blessed intervention of Humanists who re-discovered the ancients in the 15th century that the world was saved from the "Dark Ages." Yes, he liberally applies that hackneyed and questionable term -- to the entire period.

Contradictory evidence such as the writings of Petrarch and Dante are only "lonely execeptions" to the total dearth of anything valuable in the long night that gripped Europe in the rather simple mind of William Manchester. (Augustine, Abelard, Acquinas, Chaucer?) Accordinly, the first 28 pages which purport to summarize the history of the Medieval world should be summarily removed from each copy and thrown away.

Even a cursory review of medieval studies since say, 1950, puts the lie to Manchester's basic premise. (For the story of this development in the 20th C., see Cantor's "Inventing the Middle Ages"). For an Emeritus Professor of History at Wesleyan, the lack of effort is astounding. Any old source is a good source. For example, as to Davis' "Life on a Medieval Barony" (1924!!), he says: "Davis was writing about the thirteenth century, but his picture of a medieval community is valid in depicting the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries." How Manchester would know is a mystery. What changes the Black Death (mid-14th C.) might have occasioned must have been just too inconvenient.

As so many have commented, no salacious detail is missed by the priapic pen of Bill "Horndog" Manchester: "lore [always a reliable source!!] has it that he was coupling with the older woman when he was distracted by the sight of her adolescent daughter laying beside them, naked, thighs yawning wide, matching her mother thrust for pelvic thrust but with a rhythmic rotation of the hips ...."

Dr. Manchester, if he merits that title, has only succeeded in unbuttoning the fabric to expose the withering envy of old age for the sexual potency of youth. Wesleyan should be embarrassed; even casual readers should move on to something more intellectually honest.


I'm sad to say, this book is total garbage.   September 14, 2003
Licoricia (New York)
33 out of 52 found this review helpful

I don't doubt his skill as an author, but as a historian, Manchester fails miserably.

Imagine, if you will, an author writing in 4003 about our own time- if that author takes his cues from Manchester, he would get his facts only from The Jerry Springer show, talk radio, and some online bulletin boards. You can imagine the bleak, inaccurate picture such a writer would paint!
See the problem? Manchester breaks the first rule of writing history-- he starts with the thesis first, working backwards to find materials that prove his point. Using this method, anyone can prove anything.
The real tragedy is that he writes for a popular audience- people who have no background in medieval history, and so can't see the giant gaps in his information.
If anyone wants to know more, here's just two names you should look into: Hildegard von Bingen (a "Renaissance" woman, before the renaissance existed-- a mystic, scientist, composer and nun) and Thomas Aquinas (who should need no introduction!)
Manchester also, essentially, ignores the Byzantine Empire (which, though geographically "east," played a huge part in shaping the rest of Europe). This is a real shame, not only because it rips his thesis to shreds, but also because the average, educated reader is so unknowledgeable about the subject.
Medieval history is a fascinating, important field. It's a shame and an embarrassment that a talented author like Manchester would do such a terrible job covering the subject.