‘Weird and wonderful’ Sunday Times‘An idiosyncratic, often funny fusion of history writing, travel writing and disrespect’ Sir Tom StoppardIn ad 843, the three surviving grandsons of the great Emperor Charlemagne met at Verdun. After years of bitter squabbles over who would inherit the family land, they finally decided to divide the territory and go their separate ways. In a moment of staggering significance, one grandson inherited what became France, another Germany and the third Lotharingia, the chunk that initially divided the other two: ‘the lands of Lothar’. The dynamic between these three great zones has dictated much of our subsequent fate. Lotharingia joins the equally fascinating Germania and Danubia in Simon Winder’s personal exploration of Europe. In his beguiling, hilarious and compelling book we retrace how both from west and from east any number of ambitious characters have tried and failed to grapple with these Lotharingians. Over many centuries, not only has Lotharingia brought forth many of Europe’s greatest artists, inventors and thinkers, but it has also reduced many a would-be conqueror to helpless tears of rage and frustration.