Richard Barber | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Richard William Barber 30 October 1941 (age 82) |
| Occupation | Historian, publisher |
| Nationality | British |
| Subject | Middle Ages Chivalry Medieval literature Mythology |
Richard William Barber FRSL FSA FRHistS (born 30 October 1941) is a British historian[1] who has published several books about medieval history and literature. His book The Knight and Chivalry, about the interplay between history and literature, won the Somerset Maugham Award, a well-known British literary prize, in 1971. A similarly-themed 2004 book, The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief, was widely praised in the UK press,[2][3][4] and received major reviews in The New York Times[5] and The New Republic.[6]
- ^ Sumption, Jonathan (28 February 2004). "Review: The Holy Grail by Richard Barber". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
- ^ Sumption, Jonathan (28 February 2004). "Review: The Holy Grail by Richard Barber". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
Richard Barber has written a valuable and agreeably sensible account of the literary origins of the grail legend, as well as its subsequent fortunes. He is a serious scholar and a brave man, who is not afraid of making enemies, and has trodden on plenty of scholarly corns as well as a fair number of unscholarly ones. This is not a contentious or argumentative book. It bangs no drums and blows no trumpets, but begins and ends with the evidence.
- ^ Armstrong, Karen (2 February 2004). "Elusive reality: The Holy Grail: imagination and belief, Richard Barber". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
My heart sinks on the all-too frequent occasions when I am invited to review a book about the Holy Grail. The subject has recently inspired some very silly fantasies and conspiracy theories, in which authors try to demonstrate the "secret truth" of Christianity or claim to have discovered the Grail in the cellar of their family home. Richard Barber, however, has written a serious and useful history of the Grail legend, which should dispel some of the more lunatic theories.
- ^ Sullivan, Will (January 2005). "Paperbacks—The latest paperbacks reviewed". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
Barber succeeds, through historical examination and solid storytelling skills, in making this work as imaginative and interesting as its subject
- ^ Kakatuni, Michiko (20 February 2004). "Review: A Cup at the End of the Rainbow". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ Jenkyns, Richard (4 October 2004). "Review: Tempest in A Cup". The New Republic. Retrieved 21 December 2012.