The Bright Ages
The Bright Ages
3.6/5
Goodreads

The Bright Ages

Written by Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry
Paperback
$19.99
$18.99
336
Page count
Dec 6, 2022
Publication date

Buy from other retailers

AmazonBookshop

What's The Bright Ages About

Publisher Summary

“The beauty and levity that Perry and Gabriele have captured in this book are what I think will help it to become a standard text for general audiences for years to come….The Bright Ages is a rare thing–a nuanced historical work that almost anyone can enjoy reading.”–Slate”Incandescent and ultimately intoxicating.” –The Boston GlobeA lively and magisterial popular history that refutes common misperceptions of the European Middle Ages, showing the beauty and communion that flourished alongside the dark brutality–a brilliant reflection of humanity itself.The word “medieval” conjures images of the “Dark Ages”–centuries of ignorance, superstition, stasis, savagery, and poor hygiene. But the myth of darkness obscures the truth; this was a remarkable period in human history. The Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its complexity and fundamental humanity, bringing to light both its beauty and its horrors. The Bright Ages takes us through ten centuries and crisscrosses Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa, revisiting familiar people and events with new light cast upon them. We look with fresh eyes on the Fall of Rome, Charlemagne, the Vikings, the Crusades, and the Black Death, but also to the multi-religious experience of Iberia, the rise of Byzantium, and the genius of Hildegard and the power of queens. We begin under a blanket of golden stars constructed by an empress with Germanic, Roman, Spanish, Byzantine, and Christian bloodlines and end nearly 1,000 years later with the poet Dante–inspired by that same twinkling celestial canopy–writing an epic saga of heaven and hell that endures as a masterpiece of literature today. The Bright Ages reminds us just how permeable our manmade borders have always been and of what possible worlds the past has always made available to us. The Middle Ages may have been a world “lit only by fire” but it was one whose torches illuminated the magnificent rose windows of cathedrals, even as they stoked the pyres of accused heretics. The Bright Ages contains an 8-page color insert.

What Kind of Book is The Bright Ages

Topics

medieval times

Reviews

    Book Lists That Include The Bright Ages

    The Creatives Behind the Book

    What Has Matthew Gabriele Said About This Book

    Nothing yet! Let Matthew Gabriele know that you want to hear from them about their book.

    What Has David M. Perry Said About This Book

    Nothing yet! Let David M. Perry know that you want to hear from them about their book.

    Similar Books to The Bright Ages

      chapter • 384 Pages
      The Martian
      6.5
      Andy Weir
      chapter • 369 Pages
      Me Before You
      #1 in Series
      Jojo Moyes
      chapter • 400 Pages
      The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson
      Emily Dickinson
      chapter • 317 Pages
      Moneyball
      Michael Lewis
      chapter • 368 Pages
      Daisy Jones & The Six
      Taylor Jenkins Reid
      chapter • 372 Pages
      A Thousand Splendid Suns
      Khaled Hosseini
      chapter • 281 Pages
      One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
      Ken Kesey
      chapter • 336 Pages
      Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
      Gail Honeyman
      chapter • 393 Pages
      Circe
      Madeline Miller
      Jane Austen
      View more

    Book Details

    ISBN
    9780062980908
    Publication Date
    December 6, 2022
    Publisher
    Harper Perennial
    Original Publication Date
    December 7, 2021
    Page Count
    336
    Audience
    Adult

    Contribute to this page

    Core Score - 20%

    Still needs the basics.

    Depth Score - 9%

    Just the barebones.

    Improve this page

    Are you the author or illustrator? Claim your book.

    Bookroo

    Book Clubs

    Follow Bookroo