19 Books About Charlemagne (5 Reviews & 14 Recommendations)

Books about Charlemagne! Here are THE 5 best books about Charlemagne that you cannot do without, plus 14 more recommendations! As someone who reads extensively, these are my recommendations with annotations.

Want to know everything about King Charlemagne? Well here you go!

Charlemagne, aka Charles The Great, aka Karl der Grosse [Große], aka Karolus Magnus, (742 – 814 AD), is considered the ‘Father of Europe’ in that his reign marked not only the consolidation of the Frankish tribes of western Europe, but also his preeminent role as the first Holy Roman Emperor.

He also had a cool sword named Joyeuse!

Charlemagne founded the Carolinian Dynasty in the late 8th century AD. He was king for 46 years and emperor for 14. He dispelled the Saxons (although they would later return), ousted the Lombards from northern Italy (although Benevento rebelled), and solidified the pagan tribes that previously overthrew the crumbling Papacy.

That’s the short history lesson, let’s get to the 5 Best books about Charlemagne!

1. “Two Lives of Charlemagne” by Einhard (2008)

There is no better source on Charlemagne than “The Two Lives of Charlemagne” by Einhard. Written as a first-hand account “between 829 and 836” (editor’s notes), Einhard was a personal friend and advisor to King Charlemagne during his lifetime.

Most other books about Charlemagne are based on Einhard’s incredible insights. Note that there are literally hundreds of versions and editions out on the internet for sale. Being in print for nearly 1200 years there’s no denying its importance or ubiquity! My version is the most popular version, which is the Penguin Classics printing.

Lewis Thorpe, who wrote the introduction, spends 41 pages outlining this historic text – and for good reason. One needs to understand medieval times before reading “The Two Lives of Charlemagne” which is, in many ways, is written as a play-by-play analysis of the deeds of the King of the Franks.

As a ‘book nerd’ (#booknerd) I couldn’t help purchasing a 1970 Folio Society version that I found perched on a book store shelf just waiting for me. This edition comes beautifully illustrated, enshrined within a hard case and is adorned with Charlemagne’s very own signature on its hard bound cover.

---

2. “Charlemagne” by Derek Wilson (2007)

Of all the books about Charlemagne that I’ve read, Wilson’s seems to be the most well-rounded and complete. His treatment of Charlemagne is as a historian and this helps with understanding the wider political motivations that informed the great King’s decisions.

It’s the difference between a die-hard fan of a sports team explaining a game and a professional sports analyst. With the fan you get a myopic, one-sided view of a two-team game; whereas with the analyst you get to understand the broader context of teams, a league, schedules, etc.

Derek Wilson is the Charlemagne analyst! He writes eloquently about the deeds and historical impact of ‘the father of Europe.’ At first I thought it quite cheeky to just title your book “Charlemagne;” however, after reading it, it is indeed worthy of not needing a subtitle – although the paperback was released as “Charlemagne: A Biography.” If you are looking for the perfect introductory text on Charlemagne, this is the one for you!

---

3. “Charlemagne” by Johannes Fried (2016)

This book is absolutely fascinating! While it really should be classified a “historical fiction,” it is much more than that. Johannes Fried took a huge chance in publishing this book because what he did was take all the known hard facts about the life of Charlemagne and then filled in the rest with his imagination.

Imagine that we know what point A and D are. Fried fills in points B and C with supposition to join the four in a continuous story line. That’s what makes it a historical fiction. The author’s preface states:

“THIS FOLLOWING BOOK IS NOT A NOVEL, but it is a work of fiction all the same – a fiction based on this author’s visualization of Charlemagne.”

Fried 2016: vii

Those are the very first words of the book! Sound crazy? Well, it kind of is, but it works. Originally published in German, this book about Charlemagne was translated by renown academic Peter Lewis. While visionary in its nature, the foundation of this book is very much based on rigorous academic scholarship.

What sets Fried’s work apart from other publications is its use of non-English primary sources from German archives, Italian archives, French archives, Irish archives, British archives, and from Charlemagne’s own library stocked by the famed Alcuin. I think what Johannes Fried accomplished here is a landmark masterpiece, it is both scholastic as well as pragmatic.

---

4. “Becoming Charlemagne” by Jeff Sypeck (2007)

“Becoming Charlemagne” by Jeff Sypeck is more like a meta-analysis of the age and political stratosphere in which our great King lived. It examines his political rivals and their points of view in contradistinction to his own, providing an analytical base from which to reference Charlemagne’s decision making prowess.

The interesting, unique, and ironic part about this book about Charlemagne is that it only directly talks about Charlemagne about 10% of the time!

For example, in the 2nd chapter “An Empress of Byzantium” Sypeck writes about one of Charlemagne’s political rivals Irene of Constantinople. The whole chapter is dedicated to her story! It outlines her family, rise to power, and eventual mistreatment of her rivals; scarcely a mention of Charlemagne in the whole chapter!

Likewise with the rest of the chapters. However, this book is still a valuable research tool in that while every other Charlemagne biography focuses on the man exclusively (which is the point after all, isn’t it?), the histories of his rivals and medieval cities are left as mere bylines.

Well, “Becoming Charlemagne” reverses and fixes all that. It was cool learning about (i.e. contextualizing) Irene, Constantinople, Baghdad, Rome, Alcuin, and other people and places that were central to our venerable lord’s adventures.

---

5. “The Coronation of Charlemagne” by Richard Sullivan (ed.) (1959)

Of all the books I’ve featured in this article, “The Coronation of Charlemagne” is the most ‘academic.’ I say that because this book is more like an academic journal or review than your average book. It’s also super rare!

Richard Sullivan is the editor of this book which is a part of a larger series called “Problems in European Civilization.” There are 12 chapters total, each written by a different scholar, touching upon a different question, or aspect, of Charlemagne’s reign.

As in standard academic reviews, each chapter is a mini paper on a specific subject. In fact, the titles themselves, as well as their compact length, belie the fact that the origins of these were most likely graduate papers. The chapters include the following titles:

• “What Happened on Christmas Day, 800” – Richard Sullivan
• “Eighth Century Concepts about the Roman Empire” – Robert Folz
• “The Play Emperor” – C. Delisle Burns
• “The Coronation as the Expression of the Ideals of the Frankish Court” – Louis Halphen
• “Immediate Preliminaries to the Coronation: Affairs in Rome in December, 800” – Francois Louis Ganshof
• “The Coronation as a Revival of the Roman Empire in the West” – James Bryce
• “The Coronation as Evidence of the Birth of a New Civilization” – Christopher Dawson
• “Certain Reservations to be Made in Interpreting the Coronation” – Ferdinand Lot and Geoffrey Barraclough
• “The Coronation and Local Politics in Rome” – Karl Heldmann
• “The Coronation and Papal Concepts of Emperorship” – Walter Ullmann
• “The Coronation and Byzantium” – Werner Ohnsorge
• “The Coronation and the Moslems” – Henri Pirenne

---

+ 14 More Recommended Books About Charlemagne (pictographic list included)*

1. “Charlemagne: Father of a Continent.” Alessandro Barbero (2018) [also published by the Folio Society]
2. “Song of Roland.” Anonymous and Glyn S. Burgess (1990)
3. “King and Emperor: A New Life of Charlemagne.” Janet Nelson (2019)
4. “Charlemagne.” Richard Winston (2016)
5. “Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity.” Rosamond McKittrick (2008)
6. “Charlemagne and the Paladins.” Julia Cresswell (2014)
7. “Charlemagne: Empire and Society.” Joanna Story (2010)
8. “Charlemagne’s Early Campaigns (768 – 777): A Diplomatic and Military Analysis.” Bernard S. Bachrach (2013)
9. “Emperor of the World: Charlemagne and the Construction of Imperial Authority, 800-1229.” Anne A. Latowsky (2013)
10. “Charlemagne.” Mattias Becher (2005)
11. “Charlemagne.” Roger Collins (1998)
12. “The Emperor Charlemagne.” Russell Chamberlin (2004)
13. “Daily Life in the World of Charlemagne.” Pierre Riché (1978)
14. “Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard’s Histories (Ann Arbor Paperbacks).” Barbara Rogers, Bernhard Walter Scholtz (1972)

*PICTOGRAPHIC LIST. Each of the 14 books above are re-listed below with pictures of their covers to help you find them should you want to acquire a copy. (Image Source: Amazon).

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

What are your favourite books about Charlemagne? What makes you a fan of medieval history? Want to add a book title to this list? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!