Charlemagne is unique in being one of a set of historical figures whose best biographers write short, pithy, insightful works about them. Einhart's "Vita Karoli Magni," contemporaneous with Charlemagne, set the model. Notker Balbulus' "Gesta Caroli Magni," written later in the ninth century, set begin a long trend of mythologizing Charlemagne's role in Frankish history. This volume, a very serviceable contribution by Matthias Becher, adds to this "tradition of brevity," while never falling into Notker's tendency to apotheosize.

The story begins on Christmas Day of the year 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne "Emperor of the Romans," an event which will lay the formation for the rise of medieval Europe. In a Europe where the Roman Emperor had been gone for centuries, how was it that Charlemagne had consolidated the disparate Merovingian territories into a united Frankish kingdom? This question is at the heart of the book.

When Charlemagne's father, Pippin the Short died, he left Charlemagne and his brother Carloman I as co-emperors. After just a few years of rule, however, Carloman died unexpectedly at the age of twenty, leaving his older brother as the sole ruler from 771 until his death 43 years later. Becher covers many of the most interesting topics of Charlemagne's reign in detail: the conquering of the Saxons, Avars, and Bavarians, the political influence of Leo III, his vastly influential educational reforms (due in part to his brilliant librarian at Aachen, Alcuin), and changes in ecclesiastical structure. Becher ends the discussion with "Epilogue: Hero and Saint," discussing how Charlemagne's complex role in Frankish history has been taken up by historians over the past twelve centuries, from Notker to Ranke.

This book, along with Einhart and Notker, serve as a wonderful introduction to Charlemagne's life and times. For the more sophisticated student who wishes to fill in the gaps left by these three accounts, Rosamond McKitterick's much more extensive "Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity" comes highly recommended. ( )