Talk:A Distant Mirror

Latest comment: 3 years ago by Kemual in topic Opinions?

Opinions? edit

If you have read this book, I'd be interested in your opinions of it.  — Anna Kucsma 15:43, 12 July 2006 (UTC)Reply

Well its extremely boring and pretty much horrible. Actually its the reason why there is no information online about it because no one has ever read the who things because it is unbearable.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.25.104.229 (talkcontribs) 2006-11-11T04:15:02
Well, I can see "boring" — and "horrible" isn't out of the question, especially if you got assigned it for, say, a college requirement you would otherwise have had no interest in. But given that the reply to which I am currently replying...
  1. Was placed above the section header (in turn above the question)
  2. Is very negative
  3. Was contributed anonymously by an IP number with no other edits, and
  4. Contains statements which are at verifiably false (I Googled the title),
...I wonder if the reply was vandalism.  — AnnaKucsma   (Talk to me!) 20:46, 14 November 2006 (UTC)Reply
Possibly satire ? 116.231.75.71 (talk) 03:13, 14 April 2018 (UTC)Reply
It's a great book for younger historians needing to understand life as it was lived then. And so avoid the sin of presentism. For example, when I see "Tuchman also takes care to describe the lives of the people, from nobles and clergymen, right down to the peasantry.", that would be POV today but was not so at the time.86.44.144.136 (talk) 10:11, 20 April 2009 (UTC)Reply

In my opinion, one of the best books I've read on this topic, or even on the topic of history as a whole. Tuchman didn't win the Pulitzer Prize twice for no reason. I've read the book several times over the past 30 years, and my admiration keeps growing. Jusdafax (talk) 07:35, 11 August 2009 (UTC)Reply

It's a wonderfully detailed book that covers the great sweep and flow of life in that turbulent century, a great read for anyone who enjoys history. People who don't, won't, but that's their hard luck.Textorus (talk) 05:17, 25 December 2010 (UTC)Reply
The criticism by professional "historians" are because none of them could write a sentence anyone would want to read. Jealousy, pure and simple. Insecure academics perhaps won't like it but as a readable general history of the period, it's great.116.231.75.71 (talk) 09:15, 30 December 2017 (UTC)Reply

In the midst of the Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic Distant Mirror becomes a helpful text to try to make sense of the news from the Capitol attack to Qanon, in the same way that the 1950 film "The Killer That Stalked New York" is suddenly riveting. This article should list other books on the same topic. Kemual (talk) 10:25, 8 February 2021 (UTC)Reply