“The Emperor: Charlemagne”, by Russell Chamberlin

245 pages, Franklin Watts, ISBN-13: 978-0531150047

“Neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire” – Voltaire’s glib gibe about the Holy Roman Empire was literally true but, like all such glib gibes, missed the essential point: for a thousand years people believed it existed, or thought it ought to exist; for a thousand years, as they tore at each other in fratricidal wars, Europeans nevertheless nursed the idea of a unity that would bind, not destroy, their racial identities. The Treaty of Rome of 1957, which established the European Economic Community, might lack the drama of the events of Christmas Day, 800, but it shared the same dynamic, even if it, like it’s predecessor, doesn’t live up to expectations. And so we come to The Emperor: Charlemagne – or is it The Emperor Charlemagne? Both versions of the title are used interchangeably – by Russell Chamberlin – or is it E.R. Chamberlin? Again, both versions of the author’s name are used – is a biography of the first Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne – or is it Karl der Große? Carlo Magno? Caroli Magni? – and one of the founders of Europe. Few men have exerted such a lasting influence on the course of Western history as Charlemagne (let’s stick with that, shall we?): at the height of his power in the early 9^th Century, the King of the Franks and Lombards and Emperor of the Romans ruled all the Christian lands of western Europe (except for the British Isles, Southern Italy and Sicily). Charismatic, gregarious, energetic and cultured (though functionally illiterate), he initiated and encouraged a renaissance of learning and artistic enterprise that appeared to later generations as a Golden Age. An incomparable general, administrator and law-giver, he was as skilled on the battlefield as in the council chamber, and by sheer force of character held together an empire that rivaled the Byzantines in the East. Not bad, Chuck; not bad at all. Chamberlin’s book is brief – only 245 pages – and, thus, serves more as a primer on the life of the first HRE. He whips through his life at breakneck speed, touching on the important bits and stressing the impactful moments, but by the end you’re just a little bit less ignorant of the giant Frank than you were when you started. Not a bad book, there’s just better, longer and more fleshed-out ones available. Now, then I just gotta find em.