The allure behind the mysterious figure of Thomas Becket has remained enduring: he was the centerpiece of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales; and in our own time, he has resonated with T.S. Eliot, Jean Anouilh, and even Hollywood. The construction and deconstruction of Becket's reputation is central to this provocative new study, which investigates whether the popular conception of Becket is a result of valid assessments of the man and his cause, or a product of a carefully constructed myth.
The allure behind the mysterious figure of Thomas Becket has remained enduring: he was the centerpiece of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales; and in our own time, he has resonated with T.S. Eliot, Jean Anouilh, and even Hollywood. The construction and deconstruction of Becket's reputation is central to this provocative new study, which investigates whether the popular conception of Becket is a result of valid assessments of the man and his cause, or a product of a carefully constructed myth.
???The easy grasp of the source material, the exhaustive analysis of every aspect of the theme, and the soundness of judgment displayed throughout, makes this a book of exemplary scholarship that will surely remain the definitive study for many years to come.??? ???
Alan B. Cobban, The Historical AssociationAnne Duggan is Professor of History at King's College London
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