Charlemagne - Derek Wilson

An incisive and absorbing biography of the legendary emperor who bridged ancient and
modern Europe and singlehandedly altered the course of Western history.

Charlemagne
was an extraordinary figure: an ingenious military strategist, a wise but ruthless
leader, a cunning politician, and a devout believer who ensured the survival of Christianity
in the West.
He also believed himself above the rules of the church, siring bastards
across Europe and coldly ordering the execution of 4,500 prisoners. Derek Wilson
shows how this complicated, fascinating man married the military might of his army
to the spiritual force of the Church in Rome, thereby forging Western Christendom.
This is a remarkable portrait of Charlemagne and of the intricate political, religious,
and cultural world he dominated.