We know little about the life and character of the greatest medieval ruler. A biography of Charlemagne in a modern sense is impossible. But the manner by which Johannes Fried, the master storyteller and gifted medievalist, in this his magnum opus, pulls out all the historical stops, traces Charlemagne through sources and artifacts, hunts for clues amongst all types of evidence and analogies, brings knowledge and the most modern methods of memory research and creative intuition together in order to bring an era and a ruler to life – that’s historiography in a class of its own. This book is the closest anyone can hope to get to knowing Charlemagne.

“Johannes Fried’s knowledge is breathtaking.”

– Lucas Wiegelmann, Die Welt

“A tremendous panorama – in terms of both language and content – that captivates with its broad strokes as well as with its abundance of details.”

– Berthold Seewald, Die Welt online