Cathars

• Illustrations, tables, maps, Series editor’s preface to the first edition, Preface to the first edition, Author’s preface to the second edition, Acknowledgements, Abbreviations, Introduction, 1. The spread of Catharism, 2. The Cathars and Languedocian society, 3. The Cathar Church, 4. The Catholic reaction, 5. The decline of Catharism, 6. The last Cathars, 7. Cathars after Catharism, Further reading, References, Tables, Maps, Index

This book is beautifully written. While it is, generally, a work of synthesis, the sources have been read afresh in the context of recent research. Barber's cool common sense gives a chance to see the religion and the society in which it became rooted in a new light. Highly recommended, but it will disappoint romantics. Jonathan Riley-Smith, Times Higher Educational SupplementThe book is especially notable for its careful and sensitive attempt to see the Cathars and their beliefs in a concrete, localised context. The author has done his homework on the regional geography and topography of Languedoc to good effect; the location, role and significance of the castrum, or fortified village, which made Catharism as much a rural as an urban heresy, is particularly well set out.Malcolm Vale, English Historical Review