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  • Heart of Europe

  • A History of the Holy Roman Empire
  • Written by: Peter H. Wilson
  • Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
  • Length: 34 hrs and 3 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (28 ratings)

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Heart of Europe cover art

Heart of Europe

Written by: Peter H. Wilson
Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
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Publisher's Summary

The Holy Roman Empire lasted 1,000 years, far longer than ancient Rome. Yet this formidable dominion never inspired the awe of its predecessor. Voltaire quipped that it was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire. Yet as Peter H. Wilson shows, the Holy Roman Empire tells a millennial story of Europe better than the histories of individual nation-states.

Heart of Europe traces the empire from its origins within Charlemagne's kingdom in 800 to its demise in 1806. By the mid-tenth century, its core rested in the German kingdom, and ultimately its territory stretched from France and Denmark to Italy and Poland. Yet the empire remained abstract, with no fixed capital and no common language or culture. The source of its continuity and legitimacy was the ideal of a unified Christian civilization, but this did not prevent emperors from clashing with the pope over supremacy. Though the title of Holy Roman Emperor retained prestige, rising states such as Austria and Prussia wielded power in a way the empire could not. While it gradually lost the flexibility to cope with political, economic, and social changes, the empire was far from being in crisis until the onslaught of the French revolutionary wars.

©2016 Peter H. Wilson (P)2017 Tantor
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What the critics say

"Hugely impressive...Wilson is an assured guide through the millennium-long labyrinth of papal - imperial relations." ( Literary Review)

What listeners say about Heart of Europe

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Difficult to Digest, but a Worthwhile Pickup

As some others have pointed out this is mostly nonlinear in terms of timeline, which I found rather confusing.

The level of detail is immense and varies in its scope, so anyone looking for a solid gulp of the history of the Holy Roman Empire would be served well by this title.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good stories

But why are there no chapter titles? Also, numbers don’t match narration. This should be an easy fix — other titles have it. Makes it difficult to navigate.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A splendid and detailed work of scholarship.

This is a dense, majestic and fascinating study. I wish Audible offered more works of serious history like this.

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