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Book Review: Oathbreakers

Oathbreakers: The War of Brothers That Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe is a recent work of history by Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry.  The book primarily documents the Carolingian Civil War, which was a bloody conflict among Charlemagne's descendants that fractured the vast empire built by Charlemagne with much blood and treasure.


The story starts earlier with Charlemagne’s immediate predecessors, his grandfather and father, who successfully took power from the Merovingians.  The authors then summarize and provide insights into familial conflicts and power plays that had already started in the time of Charlemagne. Essentially, the signs of civil war were already starting to show by the end of Charlemagne’s reign.

We then visit the reign of Louis the Pious who was Charlemagne’s sole surviving son. Has their been a number of heirs, one suspects that outright war between the Franks may have started earlier. However, one Lious the Pious’s sons came of age, the trouble really started and this is where Oathbreakers hits its stride.  Lothar, Pepin and Louis the German duel for power and control over the Franks, but instead cause the empire to weaken and begin to break into the parts of Europe that we have today.  Arguably, here is where France and Germany begin to really have separate identities.

The book has been described as a narrative or popular history that brings a “real-life” Game of Thrones type work to readers.  It’s been called engaging and compelling storytelling.  Personally, I found it dry and repetitive.  There is certainly lots of information here, but in my view this is not the compelling read that it is made out to be.  

And as far as chatty goes, an example would be having a paragraph that is just one word – “Nope.”  Personally, I didn’t buy into it at all.  I found the chattiness to be a little on the annoying side. I am just a regular guy who loves history and not an academic, and if I find the chatty nature of the work somewhat patronizing then perhaps you will too. 

Are you really into the history of the Carolingians?  Interested in the formation of medieval Europe?  Then you might enjoy this work. I learned a lot about the Carolingian empire, its cultural practices that generated such conflict between successor family members, as well as foundational aspects of Europe’s development. 

If you are looking for compelling, popular history that echoes Game of Thrones, then I am not buying it.  There might be better alternatives out there for you. 


Publication date: Dec 10, 2024     Publisher: Harper   Page Count: 304 pages

 

About the Authors:

Authors: Matthew Gabriele (Virginia Tech) and David M. Perry (University of Minnesota), known for their accessible history and previous work on The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe.

Great Source for Buying Books:

I often buy new books at a very good price from Book Outlet. As I understand it, Book Outlet sells overstock books received directly from new bookstores.  You can find a broad range of genres, publication dates as well as soft covers and hardcover. 

If you are interested in checking out Book Outlet, please follow my link. I don't get paid for referrals, but I can earn credits that are applicable to my own book orders. Help me read and review books so that you can avoid things or find things that are up your alley! 

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