James Palmer on Charlemagne's Dream

The dynamic, expansionist dynasty that forged the Middle Ages.

Today, the Carolingians are best known as the dynasty of Charlemagne. In a few remarkable decades spanning the late eighth and early ninth centuries, Charlemagne united much of modern-day Europe through conquest and diplomacy, establishing the continent's first empire since the fall of Rome.

Charlemagne's Dream depicts the entire sweeping arc of the Carolingian dynasty - the men and women who laid the foundations for his achievements, and the colourful heirs who squandered his legacy. They fought and traded with power centres as far-flung as Cordoba, Constantinople, and Baghdad. They gathered scholars and philosophers to drive a cultural and intellectual renaissance. They allied with the pope, forever changing the relationship between church and state. And they dispatched the first missionaries to northern Europe, expanding Christendom's reach farther than ever imagined.

These are the stories of the family that forged Europe, showing how their pursuit of ever-greater power built - but also undermined - one of the world's great empires.

James Palmer is professor of history at the University of St. Andrews. The author of four previous books on medieval European history, he lives in Scotland.