Context:

Referenced when discussing the arrival of the Black Death in Europe, specifically mentioning 'the description in Barbara Tuchman's book' about a ship pulling into Messina with dead men at the oars. Later cited again regarding her assessment that King John II 'could have served Machiavelli as the model for the anti-prince.'

Context:

Tom describes this as a book he loved as a child that gave a different perspective on the 14th century and the Hundred Years' War, casting it as a period of suffering with mercenaries, pillaging, and the Black Death.

Context:

Dominic mentions this book when introducing the Ballet des Ardents story, saying 'it's been seared on my mind ever since I read Barbara Tuchman's Distant Mirror years and years ago. One of my favorite books when I was about 12.'