A World Lit Only by Fire by William Manchester is not only informative about the conflicts that took place in Europe, but it is humorous and includes perspectives and anecdotes that are not considered impartial. It is structured into three distinct sections: The Medieval Mind, The Shattering and One Man Alone. The first section effectively talks about the important events that occurred in the year 500; this includes the fall of the Roman Empire and the reasons behind its fall. Manchester goes on to talk about the Dark Ages that immediately followed the collapse of the Roman Empire. He talks about the Black Death and how Europe experienced multiple "climate changes", such as severe flooding. The second section contains information that expands on events occurring in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. This is the section where Manchester kills the Catholic Church and everything it stood for at that time. The final section describes the journey of Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer who circumnavigated the world by ship. Everyone has aspirations; whether gigantic or microscopic, they are of great importance in our lives. They become so important that with adherence and diligence a person has the ability to think of anything. It is absolutely true that when a person is trying to achieve a goal, they will encounter a few obstacles here and there; this is the moment where they must step up a gear and fight their way to the top. In this particular book, a man named Desiderius Erasmus must fight to hold the world body of Christians together as Catholicism attempts to tear the people apart, limb from limb. Erasmus didn't like the Catho...... middle of paper ...... se ding, then someone else is. Those who are of higher rank and have more power in the world can easily manipulate an unguided man. If Erasmus had not saved Europeans from the corruption of the Church, there is no telling how today's Europe would be characterized. He defined what it meant to be a true follower of God. William Manchester, the author, wanted us to understand that it is goal-oriented people like Desiderius Erasmus who undoubtedly have all the capacity to change the world. As Erasmus said: “There are people who live in a dream world, and there are those who face reality; and then there are those who transform one into the other.” If people do not have self-confidence and work hard to achieve their goals, they will never achieve their desired goals and will continually regret the days they did not enjoy..