num_pages: 226
description: An absorbing biography of the great leader who was the bridge between ancient and modern Europe  the first major study in more than twenty-five years. 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 4500 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.
language: English
title: Charlemagne: A Biography
publisher: Doubleday