Charlemagne--ruler of the vast Frankish kingdom from 768 to his death in 814 and Holy Roman emperor from the year 800--is considered the father of Europe. He founded the first empire in western Europe after the fall of Rome, and his court at Aix-la-Chapelle was a center of classical learning and a focus of the Carolingian Renaissance. This book is a splendid introduction to Charlemagne's life and legend.
Matthias Becher describes Charlemagne's rise to emperor and traces his political and military maneuvering against the Saxons, the Lombards, and others, as Charlemagne incorporated these...