HISTORY IN FLAMES

A scholarly study of how warfare led to the loss of countless historical manuscripts that were both important and beautiful.

When the past speaks to us, it is often through the records that survive. Bartlett, emeritus professor of history and author of the Wolfson Literary Prize–winning The Making of Europe, recognizes not only the importance of historical primary sources, but also their fragility. While figures are hard to calculate, a rough guess is that more than 90% of manuscripts from the Middle Ages in Europe have been lost. While many noteworthy political and religious documents survived, everyday items such as contracts and letters have also offered important insights. For those willing to dig into the literature, one advantage was the centralization of archives in cities in the modern era, but this also brought the danger of wholesale destruction. Bartlett investigates cases of military action, ranging from the Franco-Prussian War to World War II, in which massive amounts of material were destroyed in the space of a few hours. He cites the power of explosives as the factor that did the most damage. He also recounts the efforts of scholars and archivists to save as much as possible, and they have been able to painstakingly resurrect some manuscripts from fragments. Bartlett seems to know nearly everything about his subject, but the book will appeal most to readers with a special interest in medieval history. Others are likely to find it a difficult read, even while regretting the loss of so many key pieces of the past. “What we can know of the past depends on what has been handed down, and that is not a constant,” writes the author. “We make the past, but we can also lose it.”

Not for general readers, but Bartlett’s love for the documents of the past shines through.