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Two Lives of Charlemagne
Two Lives of Charlemagne
Oct 30, 2024 3:24 AM

Author:Einhard,Notker the Stammerer,David Ganz

Two Lives of Charlemagne

Einhard's Life of Charlemagne is an absorbing chronicle of one of the most powerful and dynamic of all medieval rulers, written by a close friend and adviser. In elegant prose it describes Charlemagne's personal life, details his achievements in reviving learning and the arts, recounts his military successes and depicts one of the defining moments in European history: Charlemagne's coronation as emperor in Rome on Christmas Day 800AD. By contrast, Notker's account, written some decades after Charlemagne's death, is a collection of anecdotes rather than a presentation of historical facts.

Reviews

It sounds like a cliché to maintain that a new Anne Frank has been found. But the newly published diary by Ruth Maier has the same magic strength as Anne Frank's diary

—— Berlingske Tidende (Denmark)

The final volume of her diary, completed two days after her 22nd birthday, carried the inscription: "Do Not Burn!" For the sake of posterity and as a human chronicle, we can be grateful that it was not turned to ash

—— Ian Thompson , Independent

Her reflections on herself and those around her make poignant reading

—— Spectator

An exhaustive and lively summary

—— James Urquhart , Financial Times

Written... with a polymathematical verve which carried me with him to the end

—— Nicholas Bagnall , Sunday Telegraph

An absorbing account of how international artistic rebellion became mainstream and lucrative

—— Christopher Hirst , Independent

Peter Gay has outdone himself. In his hands Modernism adds up to more than the sum of its subversive, sensational, unsettling parts. This is cultural history of the highest magnitude, a work as astute in its analyses as it is massive in its ambition. And as ever, it is written with stunning lucidity. A splendid, invigorating achievement

—— Stacy Schiff

A wonderful book. You can be sure that students and journalists and teachers will be stealing from Modernism for years to come. Bravo!

—— Hilton Kramer

Rappaport has succeeded in capturing a frenetic, terrifying period of modern history and showing how a brutal, but human, man and his family became victims of the pent-up fury of the people he had systematically ground underfoot

—— Sunday Tribune (Ireland)

Well researched ... Helen Rappenport successfully evokes the claustrophobic atmosphere within the house

—— Saturday Telegraph

The appalling end of the last Romanov and his enchanting family is well described by Helen Rappaport ... Utilising sources only recently accessible, she traces the story from abdication to slaughter, including much fascinating detail...

—— Literary Review

Rappaport exhumes the last days of the Romanovs and, relying on archival sources and neglected memoirs, tries to offer the most up-to-date account possible... Vivid...

—— Scotland on Sunday

Eminently readable but still fastidiously researched, no compromising on scholarly or evidence-based investigation... There is a very powerful sense that you are reading the words of someone who is witnessing the sights and sounds of the place first hand, is returning to primary sources and conjuring up the atmosphere with an accomplished writer's eye. The trouble with reading any book about the Romanovs is the sure and certain knowledge of how it will end, yet despite this the book feels fresh and spell-binding ... Compelling reading

—— dovegreyreader.com

Utterly absorbing, a really good read, sensitive and balanced and surely the definitive last word on the subject

—— Dr Harry Shukman, Emeritus Fellow of Modern Russian History, St Antony’s College Oxford

Rappaport narrates her story in an original fashion, focusing on the final two weeks inside the Ipatiev House before the murders

—— Times Literary Supplement

Brilliantly shows how history is never simple but always enthralling when written with this style

—— The Bookseller

Extraordinary and powerful ... Having uncovered enlightening new sources, Rappaport has produced a highly accessible account of the last 14 days in the lives of the former tsar Nicholas, his wife Alexandra and their children

—— Western Daily Press

Riveting account of turbulence, social upheaval and murder in early 20th-century Russia, which draws on new evidence uncovered in the icy, remote city where Tsar Nicholas and his family met their bloody deaths. Juxtaposing fascinating domestic details with analysis of the international political scene, the author strips away the romance of their incarceration and the mythology surrounding their murders to reveal an extraordinary human situation and its seismic worldwide repercussions

—— Sainsbury’s Magazine

Rappaport precisely imagines those last few days ... As the pages turn quickly towards an end that is never in doubt, a picture emerges of a devout, loving and rather commonplace family

—— Waterstone’s Books Quarterly

The great strength of Rappaport's book is her tight focus on the royal family's final three months in the Iaptiev House... She has told the human story, and the truly appalling tale of what man can do to man

—— Independent (Ireland)

A tragic and thrilling account ... Ekaterinburg is really a twofold triumph for Helen Rappaport ... On top of the impressive level of research that Rappaport has conducted in order to produce Ekaterinburg, she also has an excellent and engaging writing style and succeeds in maintaining the tension and mood throughout ... Gritty and compelling

—— suite101.com
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