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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
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Politics & government

OATHBREAKERS

David Perry Matthew Gabriele

The War of Brothers That Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe

The authors of THE BRIGHT AGES return with a real-life Game of Thronesthe story of the Carolingian Civil War, a bloody, protracted battle pitting brother against brother, father against son, that would end an empire, upend a continent, and redefine the future of Europe.

By the early ninth century, the Carolingian empire was at the height of its power. The Franks, led by Charlemagne, had built the largest European domain since Rome in its heyday. Though they jockeyed for power, prestige, and profit, the Frankish elites enjoyed political and cultural consensus. But just two generations later, their world was in shambles. Civil war, once an unthinkable threat, had erupted after Louis the Pious's sons tried to overthrow himand then placed their knives at the other's neck. Families who had once charged into battle together now drew each other's blood. The Carolingian Civil War would rage for years as kings fought kings, brother faced off against brother, and sons challenged fathers. Oathbreakers is the dramatic history of this brutal, turbulent time. Medieval historians David M. Perry and Matthew Gabriele illuminate what happens when a once unshakeable political and cultural order breaks down and long suppressed tensions flare into deadly violence. Drawn from rich primary sources, featuring a wide cast of characters, packed with dramatic twists and turns, this is history that rivals the greatest fictional epicswith consequences that continue to shape our own world. OATHBREAKERS offers lessons of what deep cracks in a once-stable social and political fabric might reveal, and the bloody consequences of disagreeing on facts and reality. The Civil War at the heart of this tale asks: who is "in" and who is "out"? And what happens when things fall apart? Matthew Gabriele is a professor of medieval studies at Virginia Tech, and co-author with David M. Perry of The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe, alongside several other academic books. His research generally is on religion and violence, nostalgia and apocalypse, and how people tell stories about the past. His public writing has appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, and interviews with him have aired locally, nationally, and internationally. He and Perry co-write the newsletter Modern Medieval on Buttondown. David Perry is a journalist, medieval historian, and Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in the history department at the University of Minnesota. He was formerly a professor of history at Dominican University. Perry is the author of Sacred Plunder: Venice and the Aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, and his writing on history, disability, politics, parenting, and other topics has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Nation, the Atlantic, and CNN.com, among others. He and Gabriele co-write the newsletter Modern Medieval on Buttondown.

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Book Published 2024-12-10 by HarperCollins Young Readers - New York (USA)

Comments

This revisionist history of medieval Europe takes apart the myth of a savage, primitive period . . . with passion and verve, [Gabriele and Perry challenge] the reader to tackle assumptions, bias and prejudices about the past to create a more joined-up, inclusive picture of the thousand years that followed the sack of Rome.

The 'Holy Roman Empire' reached a state of peace, however tenuous. But Charlemagne's heirs had greater ambitions. The empire fell into civil war, as sons fought fathers and one another. This set the stage for Europe's Middle Ages. Historians Gabriele and Perry (The Bright Ages, 2022) plumb resources from the era to narrate the story of these internecine struggles..This is a serious, meticulous history that will also appeal to Game of Thrones fans, who will discover intriguing parallels between history and fiction.

Lively writers, the authors cast a critical eye on the surviving sources, delivering a painless education on how historians try to determine what actually happened from fragmentary and wildly biased accounts. A scholarly and entertaining history of warring brothers.

For such a significant event as the Carolingian Civil War, it's surprising how few books cover the topic in depth. Even more surprising is how well-written and accessible this one isperfect for history enthusiasts.

This rousing history of a real-life Game of Thrones details the ninth-century battle among Charlemagne's heirs for control of his empire.

Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry do an excellent job of detailing a complex story of shifting alliances and bitter conflict, creating an intricate portrait of Medieval strife that rivals any episode of Game of Thrones. Oathbreakers is historical writing at its finest.

While all of this is the sort of stuff that professional medievalists love to see, the thing I like most about Perry and Gabriele's effort is that it is fun. The Bright Ages is written in such an engaging and light manner that it is easy to race through. I found myself at the end of chapters faster than I wanted to be, completely drawn in by the narrative. You can tell how much the authors love the subject matter, and that they had a great time choosing stories to share and evidence to consider.

Incandescent and ultimately intoxicating, for as the chapters progress, it dawns on the reader that those who lived in this period were more conventional than cardboard figures. . . . They were, in essence, human.

Though the events in Oathbreakers are distant in time, Gabriele and Perry describe them with an immediacy that's both informative and entertaining. . . . [revealing] that the emotions driving the actors in the Carolingian dramaambition, greed, and the lust for powerare in fact as timely as today's headlines.

An enlightening portrait of the medieval mindset.

Fascinating.