A Distant Mirror

About “A Distant Mirror”

A Distant Mirror (1978) is a book by Barbara Tuchman, a sweeping historical narrative of the cataclysmic 14th century, when medieval Europe's energies went into internecine wars and warding off the plague. Some medieval thinkers viewed these disasters as divine punishment, others as opportunities for wealth and power, notably the French nobleman Enguerrand de Coucy, whose life informs much of the book. Tuchman examines the Hundred Years War, the collapse of the medieval church, and the rise of heresies and pogroms.