The World is Not Enough

Ansiau of Linnieres and Alis of Puiseaux are wed at the ages of 16 and 14, respectively, on the arrangement of their parents and because Ansiau's old father longs for a grandson before he dies. This very special occasion merits red wax candles, a rare luxury for members of the petty baronage of France in the late twelfth century. Thus, as the callow groom and his frightened bride spend their first few married nights in private room with a bed all to themselves - a first for both of them - a new dynasty begins. When she fails to become pregnant immediately, Ansiau's father berates his little daughter-in-law. Finally, however, she does give him the grandson he craves; indeed Alis spends most of the next 30 years pregnant. She does enjoy some respite from continuous maternity: Ansiau joins two Crusades to the Holy Land. Here, Oldenbourg takes the one historical liberty I noticed in this very large book. While the Third Crusade is accurately placed at 1188-92, she has moved the Second Crusade forward by 40 years or so, to about 1179. This is especially interesting, considering that Oldenbourg is perhaps better known for her highly respected nonfiction works on the Crusades. As you read, the reason for her taking this liberty becomes obvious: The "Second" Crusade happens almost entirely offstage, the narrative staying with Alis and her travails during her husband's absence - dealing with household and harvests, managing the endless renegotiation of their mortgages with the Jewish moneylender, coming into her own as a woman and as lady of the castle. For a time, Ansiau is thought dead, and, thinking herself a widow, Alis falls in love with and nearly remarries a handsome young knight named Erard. The Third Crusade is Ansiau's story entirely, and there probably is no better fictional treatment of that war anywhere. Oldenbourg even goes so far as to quote passages directly from contemporary chronicles. The Crusades were politically as well as religiously charged, and Oldenbourg succeeds in making the machinations and counter-machinations of the western Christians, the eastern Christians, and the Muslims *almost* accessible (no mean feat). We also see inside the hearts of the Crusaders, understand what drove them, experience firsthand how they were affected by the holy wars they fought. Shortly after his second return from the Holy Land, Ansiau indulges in a love affair of his own - one so scandalous that it makes Alis's dalliance with Erard seem almost innocent by comparison. This novel depicts much that the modern reader who is unschooled in medieval European culture will find unfathomable, probably even objectionable: Different standards of hygiene; questionable sexual ethics and contradictory attitudes toward women; Christian kings whose conduct in war doesn't exactly adhere to the Geneva Convention; a Christianity that sometimes seems more superstition than religion. But we see these things in their proper context. They are rendered, although not

I first read this book as a college student 35 years ago and was transported to a fully imagined medieval France. There is a whole world here served up by a respected medieval scholar whose nonfiction works on the Crusades are still in print. I was so glad to see her work show up in print again, long after I had despaired of finding myself another copy. This is not one of those costume dramas where the author dresses up modern personalities in fancy dress. This is an era of mindsets, goals and values different than our own. Before long you adjust to this different way of life. But like our own world and real life everywhere, not all problems get neatly resolved, not all people worthy of love find their soulmates, not all the sons understand their fathers, and not all lost people are found. This for me was one of the most profoundly mind-blowing books I read as a young woman, not just for what it taught me about history but what it taught me about life.And now years later I find myself teaching World History. Partly because of my experience with this book, I now require my sophomore history students to read a well-researched historical novel as part of the curriculum to give them a better sense of how it was to have lived a life in another time and place. This is the book I suggest to a few gifted readers who are drawn to the medieval period, are not deterred by a thick book and want nothing more than a life-changing read. They too have been transported.

It's pretty easy to sit in the comfort of a 21st Century easy chair and comment that a work of fiction depicts life in 12th Century France as depressing. Love is very much a commodity in our media-drenched culture--Oldenbourg is able to give romance much more value in The World is Not Enough. What a fine work of art for depicting love amid the chaos! And there are many romances throughout its pages-some successful, many are not. But romance gives these characters hope, and in describing the many relationships throughout the novel, Oldenbourg succeeds in telling us much more about how people during the time of the Crusades viewed life, death, family, money, marriage, hate, and love. When I finished the book, I felt very moved. Lucky to be born 50 or so generations after these characters, for sure, but nevertheless grateful that I was able to see how they endured (and overcame) hardship. This book is mostly about passion for life amidst a world/time/place where death was all too common. Here's the bottom line on what a romantic semi-intellect such as myself looks for in great historical fiction: if a novel can make you feel more passionate about love and your own life in the present (and this one does, admirably), then by all means recommend it to others who seek similar enlightenment. So, pick it up and find out the value of love during the tough times when Europe began to make its way out of the Dark Ages. And see if it doesn't teach you anything about the present.

This is the best book I have purchased on this site so far. It has in plenty what I appreciate most in historical novels - realism of depicting. The epoch - violent and passionate - comes to life so that you will be re-reading this book to savour every detail once more. The people look, talk and behave as they probably would have been in the 12th century. They are loving and caring, cruel and merciless, aspiring and constantly warring. The violence, filth, blind devotion or unacceptable, to "modern" times, customs and concepts, is what makes the book different. I have bought 2 more books of the same author afterwards.

This is one of those books that I didn't want to get to the end of. I wanted the story to go on and on. The book brought me back to medieval France and kept me there for 3 weeks. I learned to feel what it was like to be alive back then, and I came to know the characters better than I know myself. The lives these people led were fascinating. A person who wants to experience medieval European adventure, love, pain and daily life would like reading this book. For those interested in historical accuracy, the book is right on. You can go to the Met in NYC to see the armor they wore, and the cities in France that were mentioned were indeed on an important medieval fair route. It also seems to jibe with William Manchester's "A World Lit Only by Fire."