The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard Review

Thomas Muntzer was a 16th century German rabble-rouser who hated the Church and led an uprising against the upper classes, citing Jesus’ teachings for why the rich shouldn’t be, and so on. He knew what was up. What a scam organised religion really is. But it didn’t take and several centuries later Eric Vuillard wrote up the episode in this dinky book, The War of the Poor.

It’s certainly worth remembering the lesser-known struggles of our ancestors and I guess it’s sorta relevant today, although inequality and hypocrisy have never really gone out of vogue in humanity, either before or after. It’s also too brief and fairly indistinct given the sparsity of the facts to leave much of an impression and, despite a few compelling passages, fizzles out into vague fighting and a predictable finale.

The book is nonfiction but what makes it stand out, and more accessible too, is Vuillard’s very casual retelling of the facts. I suppose it might be to add a little flavour to what would otherwise be a dry and bare retelling - the story of peasant uprisings goes back even further to 14th century England (and of course much further back in history still but this is as far back as Vuillard goes here) when a chap called John Ball attempted to overthrow the wealthy religious, and record-keeping back then wasn’t too great.

The effect is a bit like listening to a slightly sloshed history professor monologuing at large. It’s interesting to hear about the likes of Wycliffe and Muntzer translating the Bible from its Latin - which few could understand, let alone read - into the “common” languages of English and German, and the uproar such “heresy” caused (the Church knew that by controlling knowledge, they could control the poor).

But there’s also very little to the stories. Muntzer goes a wee bit mental towards the end, using Biblical language to describe his rebellion, though ultimately technology puts the frighteners on the peasants and that’s that. Things go very quickly from crazy to calm in this narrative, and, as a result, it’s a tad forgettable.

Might be worth a look if you’re slightly intrigued by Middle Ages history but don’t expect to have your socks knocked off by The War of the Poor. “Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize” - HAHAHHAHA! Well, ‘twas 2021, the panel were probably all demented from the pandy…