A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
by Barbara Tuchman
Mentioned once across 1 show · first heard Jun 2026 on My First Million.
The general take
Lloyd Blankfein says A Distant Mirror is a fun history book about 14th-century life that he's read twice, even though it's not Barbara Tuchman's most famous work. He clearly enjoyed it enough to revisit it, suggesting it's a genuinely engaging read rather than just a dry historical text.
About
A “marvelous history”* of medieval Europe, from the bubonic plague and the Papal Schism to the Hundred Years’ War, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Guns of August *Lawrence Wright, author of The End of October, in The Wall Street Journal The fourteenth century reflects two contradictory images: on the one hand, a glittering age of crusades, cathedrals, and chivalry; on the other, a world plunged into chaos and spiritual agony. In this revelatory work, Barbara W. Tuchman examines not only the great rhythms of history but the grain and texture of domestic life: what childhood was like; what marriage meant; how money, taxes, and war dominated the lives of serf, noble, and clergy alike.
Who said what
Lloyd Blankfein👍 Recommends
…lloyd discussing barbara tuchman books that resonated with him
“But she wrote a book that I found really fun that I'm not sure, it's not her most famous book, but it's called A Distant Mirror. And it's a history of a life that was led in the 14th century... That was one of the few books I've read twice.”
My First Million — How the Ex-Goldman CEO actually invests his own moneyat 47:30
Listener reviews
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