Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #514744 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 553 pages

Synopsis
Charles the Bold (1467-1477) was the last of the great Dukes of Burgundy. This historical and biographical work assesses his personality and his role as a ruler, and discusses his relationship with his subjects and his neighbours. It describes and analyses his policies, giving particular attention to his imperial plans and projects and his clash with the Swiss. The armies, the court and Burgundian clients and partisans are given separate treatment.

Customer Reviews

Very thorough, but good
Like the other books in this series, this is not meant to be 'popular history'. This book deals in great detail with all aspects of Charles the Bold's reign, the witer often apologising that he cannot enter into a given matter in even greater detail. Nevertheless it is a quite readable book, because Charles the Bold is vividly brought to life as a colourful person and his policies and many wars come to life as a logical consequence of his personality, his ambitions and his fears. It also helps that the 15th-century writers of the oft-quoted source material come across as lively and informative writers (or that the translator has made an excellent job of making them come across as such). I deduct one star for the complete lack of illustrations and because the small and amateurish maps do little or nothing to elucidate the narrative. But all in all an interesting read for the seriously interested.