Who is this website for? This is the first question that any web developer asks. The answer is unusual: it’s not advertising anything, but is an invitation to explore the books I have written and the books that I have produced as a publisher. I hope the audience will be scholars in my own specialities, which are largely medieval.
For history, there is English medieval history and biography, and wider European themes, particularly tournaments, the topic of magnificence , and early heraldry. There is a special page on the Marlborough mound, now identified as the only prehistoric mound reused as the centre of a castle, and the work of the Mound trust in restoring it over the past twenty years.
But in chronological terms, I started with king Arthur, and everything else followed. So there is a good deal of medieval literature as well. And there are videos on many of these subjects, interviews with friends and fellow-scholars, and finally a cabinet of curiosities, including both a variety of medieval objects beginning with a 19th century box made from the piles of Old London Bridge, put in the Thames in 1207, and assorted unexpected and often entertaining documents, as well as puzzles such as the embroidery said to have come from the Black Prince’s tomb.
And who am I? In brief, I have been writing about these topics since 1961, in forms varying from scholarly books and articles through popular books and even to children’s books. I was also one of the founders of Boydell and Brewer, now an employee-owned company under the excellent guidance of James Powell. I like the detail of medieval scholarship, especially good ‘scholarly rabbitholes’, very precise and obscure topics which just occasionally produces something really interesting. If you really need to know more, there is a page of biography at the end.
RICHARD BARBER
What the reviewers said
The Holy Grail
‘Barber demonstrates a gift for lucid, lively prose and an ability to make highly complex developments both immediate and accessible’ THE NEW YORK TIMES
‘A rich book … Barber has created a splendid foundation for a continuation to a compelling story’ THE TIMES
‘A valuable and fascinating book … One finishes the book just wishing there were more works like it’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
Edward III and the Triumph of England
‘Barber’s book is a valuable and thorough addition to the body of work on this most impressive of English monarchs’ SUNDAY TIMES
‘This absorbing book is layered rather than linear, sifting with uncommon sensitivity through challenging sources ….subtle insight and fine scholarship’ THE TIMES
‘…vigorously written… His achievement in this book is a very considerable one’ HISTORY
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