What do you think?
Rate this book
History in Flames: The Destruction and Survival of Medieval Manuscripts
To what extent does our knowledge of the past rely upon written sources? And what happens when these sources are destroyed? Focusing on the manuscripts of the Middle Ages, History in Flames explores cases in which large volumes of written material were destroyed during a single day. This destruction didn't occur by accident of fire or flood but by human forces such as arson, shelling and bombing. This book examines the political and military events that preceded the moment of destruction, from the Franco-Prussian War and the Irish Civil War to the complexities of World War II; it analyses the material lost and how it came to be where it was. At the same time, it discusses the heroic efforts made by scholars and archivists to preserve these manuscripts, even partially. History in Flames reminds us that historical knowledge rests on material remains, and that these remains are vulnerable.
220 pages, Hardcover
Published August 22, 2024
About the author
Robert Bartlett
63 books53 followersRobert Bartlett, CBE, FBA, FRSE is Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Mediaeval History Emeritus at the University of St Andrews.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 7, 2024
This book was an enjoyable deep dive into Medieval manuscripts. It explores the idea of how we view this time period was influenced by what manuscripts survived, and invites the reader to think about what was lost over time. I think this book would be most enjoyed by those with an academic interest in Medieval history who are already familiar with the time period, but looking to explore in more depth and detail. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and plan on picking up a paper copy for my shelves once it is published.
July 13, 2024
Read via NetGalley.
This book is highly engaging, thoughtful, sometimes depressing, and overall wonderful.
It's also occasionally snarky. To whit: "On 19 July 1870 France declared war on Prussia (this was a time when states still officially declared war)."
One of the things that people who have never studied history don't really think about is just how much we don't know about the past. And that that lack is not for want of trying, but because the sources simply aren't available. And that sometimes, that lack isn't because people in the past didn't bother to record it, but because the sources have been "lost". Sometimes "lost" means the sources succumbed to time and the environment; sometimes folks re-used the medium for other purposes (binding other books, or for bullet casings - which makes me weep). And sometimes, as in the focus of this book, they are destroyed when humans destroy archives and libraries during military campaigns. The examples are from France, Ireland, Italy and Germany - he is frank, in the introduction, about the focus being narrowly European and medieval; that's his area, after all.
The book starts with an overview of how we know what we know - a good reminder for the expert, an easy intro for the novice. It then uses one of the most famous European examples of how narrowly some of our information has avoided being lost: the manuscript of Beowulf, whose story gives me nightmares every time I read it (one manuscript, nearly lost several times... we were THIS CLOSE to not having Grendel and Grendel's mother and MY GOODNESS imagine how different European literature would be).
The meat of the book is in four chapters that focus on four specific case studies - four instances of the military destroying archives or libraries. In two cases, Bartlett focuses on one significant object that was lost in the destruction, as a specific example of what we used to have; in the other two, he focuses on the entire oeuvre that was destroyed, and what that means for our knowledge of an era. So each chapter has an explanation of why folks were fighting, and why the specific place (Dublin, Chartres) was affected; then discusses what was in the library/archive - how and when it was made, why it was important, how it got to be in that place. And then the process of destruction (being blown up from the inside; bombs dropping from above).
All of that is what I expected from the title, and the overview. What I had overlooked is that the subtitle also says "and Survival". So each chapter also includes how scholars tried to save the information otherwise lost: finding examples of transcripts, lithographs, and photographs of the now-destroyed work; finding copies of letters and so on in other archives; and so on. Within the horror, therefore, at losing an enormous swathe of Irish medieval history or the largest Mappa Mundi, there is a small amount of joy and gratitude at how people tried to mitigate the loss. And that makes me very thankful.
This is an excellent book for the reader who has a keen interest in medieval history; for those interested in the construction of knowledge; and for those with a broad general interest in history. I loved it.
This book is highly engaging, thoughtful, sometimes depressing, and overall wonderful.
It's also occasionally snarky. To whit: "On 19 July 1870 France declared war on Prussia (this was a time when states still officially declared war)."
One of the things that people who have never studied history don't really think about is just how much we don't know about the past. And that that lack is not for want of trying, but because the sources simply aren't available. And that sometimes, that lack isn't because people in the past didn't bother to record it, but because the sources have been "lost". Sometimes "lost" means the sources succumbed to time and the environment; sometimes folks re-used the medium for other purposes (binding other books, or for bullet casings - which makes me weep). And sometimes, as in the focus of this book, they are destroyed when humans destroy archives and libraries during military campaigns. The examples are from France, Ireland, Italy and Germany - he is frank, in the introduction, about the focus being narrowly European and medieval; that's his area, after all.
The book starts with an overview of how we know what we know - a good reminder for the expert, an easy intro for the novice. It then uses one of the most famous European examples of how narrowly some of our information has avoided being lost: the manuscript of Beowulf, whose story gives me nightmares every time I read it (one manuscript, nearly lost several times... we were THIS CLOSE to not having Grendel and Grendel's mother and MY GOODNESS imagine how different European literature would be).
The meat of the book is in four chapters that focus on four specific case studies - four instances of the military destroying archives or libraries. In two cases, Bartlett focuses on one significant object that was lost in the destruction, as a specific example of what we used to have; in the other two, he focuses on the entire oeuvre that was destroyed, and what that means for our knowledge of an era. So each chapter has an explanation of why folks were fighting, and why the specific place (Dublin, Chartres) was affected; then discusses what was in the library/archive - how and when it was made, why it was important, how it got to be in that place. And then the process of destruction (being blown up from the inside; bombs dropping from above).
All of that is what I expected from the title, and the overview. What I had overlooked is that the subtitle also says "and Survival". So each chapter also includes how scholars tried to save the information otherwise lost: finding examples of transcripts, lithographs, and photographs of the now-destroyed work; finding copies of letters and so on in other archives; and so on. Within the horror, therefore, at losing an enormous swathe of Irish medieval history or the largest Mappa Mundi, there is a small amount of joy and gratitude at how people tried to mitigate the loss. And that makes me very thankful.
This is an excellent book for the reader who has a keen interest in medieval history; for those interested in the construction of knowledge; and for those with a broad general interest in history. I loved it.
August 7, 2024
History In Flames by Robert Bartlett, this is a great book about even greater books lost to history, the focus is mainly in medieval times the author does expound on the popularity of parchment paper wax plates and other things people preferred to ride on the initial trading and selling of books and so much more. The book is mainly about great library‘s we lost from The intervening of man and not that of natural causes. From the Franco Prussian war to the Civil War of Ireland and a couple of others I liked that the author didn’t focus on the most popular like the Roman Alexandria library the books taken when Crowley took over but that of those not so well talked about. I do think to say this is just about great books we lost is doing the book a disservice because they have so much other interesting tid-bits and I found the author covered a lot having to do with books the making of them ET see. I really enjoyed this book and totally recommend it I didn’t even know I would find this interesting but once I started reading I found myself not being able to put the book down. Who knew the making of paper and other writing implements would be so interesting. #NetGalley,#CambridgeUniversityPress, #RobertBartlett, #HistoryInFlames,
August 9, 2024
History in Flames by Robert Bartlett is a fascinating look at points in history when documentation was destroyed in various ways by humans, especially during medieval times. The repercussions are huge and what struck me most is the impact of gaps left in history by such destruction. We have learned so much about the world through the wtitten (and later, copied) word. Often, libraries, canons, bequeathed books. manuscripts, collections and fragments are all we have left of an era, event, place or person. When these disappear, so do portions of history. The sheer amount we do know is staggering, yet what we don't know is even more so. Elements of unknown mysteries thrill me!
Bartlett describes the media used for documentation such as papyrus, skin (such as the intriguing Hereford Map), stone and parchment. He also explains the results of arson, explosions, shelling and shredding up precious documents and how they relate to preserving cultural heritage. Sometimes documents are sadly re-purposed. Many records have been destroyed but happy discoveries are made of others we thought were gone forever. The section about languages is excellent. Illustrations add a layer of interest to the book.
My sincere thank you to Cambridge University Press and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this engrossing book.
Bartlett describes the media used for documentation such as papyrus, skin (such as the intriguing Hereford Map), stone and parchment. He also explains the results of arson, explosions, shelling and shredding up precious documents and how they relate to preserving cultural heritage. Sometimes documents are sadly re-purposed. Many records have been destroyed but happy discoveries are made of others we thought were gone forever. The section about languages is excellent. Illustrations add a layer of interest to the book.
My sincere thank you to Cambridge University Press and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this engrossing book.
August 1, 2024
This book was incredibly informative and interdisciplinary, emphasizing not only the connections between medieval and modern history, but also literature, art history, legal studies, and archive management. The pacing is slow for such a short book, but this is because it is intentionally dense with content rather than because it is unnecessarily drawn out or boring. Sometimes the organization of individual chapters could become confusing, since they tend to jump between several different moments in time, but the overall narrative is engaging, so this was a minor complaint overall. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the preservation of history and cultural heritage, whether they are a medievalist or not.
Thank you to Cambridge University Press and NetGalley for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review!
Thank you to Cambridge University Press and NetGalley for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews