	60% buy the item featured on this page: Who Murdered Chaucer"": A Medieval Mystery 3.2 out of 5 stars (4)
	21% buy Terry Jones' Medieval Lives 4.2 out of 5 stars (6) �5.49
	8% buy Terry Jones' Barbarians 3.9 out of 5 stars (9) �6.64
	5% buy Chaucer (Brief Lives) 5.0 out of 5 stars (3) �6.96

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4 Reviews

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3.2 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating trawl through the life and times of Chaucer, 10 May 2006

By	Fiction Fan (Madchester) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Murdered Chaucer? (Paperback)

I disagree with the negative reviews to date. Terry Jones and his co-authors have written a well argued, accessible and fascinating account of a dark period in English history; the usurpation of Richard II by the house of Lancaster. The central premise of the book ie the murder of Chaucer due to a falling out of favour with the ruling political regime is speculative and unprovable but credible. The construction of their case and the perspective they provide on Chaucerian England is insightful and rewarding to a generalist history buff and is far more plausible than the whimsy of the Da Vinci code. Highly recommended.

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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Second review, 10 Aug 2004

By	R. Jones "Rachael" (Wales, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Who Murdered Chaucer?: A Medieval Mystery (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book, particularly the sections looking for evidence of heresy in The Canterbury Tales. "Who Murdered Chaucer" has prompted me to read The Canterbury Tales. Putting extracts form The Tales and other pieces of mediaeval literature where appropriate, both in the original language and in modern English was interesting and helpful. The colour plates from original documents were also interesting and helpful

I agree with the previous reviewer that comments such as "a mediaeval peasant's leisure activities were not surfing or DIY" were irritating at times. There were also a number of times when Terry Jones or one of the co-authors would make an assertion then later contradict it. For example, that Chaucer's "Retractions" at the end of The Tales were not retractions in the modern sense of the word but in St Augustine's sense which was actually the opposite of the modern sense. A few pages on, the author talks of Chaucer writing the Retractions assuming the modern sense.

Potential readers should know that it is a difficult read in places, not a simple book.

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25 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing, 15 Mar 2004

By	Tom Chivers (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Murdered Chaucer?: A Medieval Mystery (Hardcover)

Terry Jones' 'Chaucer's Knight' was groundbreaking. His latest, 'Who Murdered Chaucer?' is deeply disappointing. He picks a very interesting subject about which we know relatively little. His evidence is well chosen (if repetitive) and his argument well made, though of course utterly speculative.

However, this book is stylistically appalling. In his desire to make everything 'accessible', Jones takes every opportunity possible to supplement his otherwise fair-to-good argument with patronising and very irritating asides. Take this for instance:

'The taverns and corner shops of old England must have been buzzing - not with the lates news of how England was doing in the World Cup or of celebrity divorces - but with the latest sermon preached in the town or the latest religious scandal. / These were extraordinary times to be living in. And in 1381 it was all to boil over. The times were to get even more exciting and extraordinary... perhaps too exciting and too extraordinary.'

This is not an isolated example. The book is littered with them. A real turn-off. And a real pity, as this is a book which should be written. If only his editor had had the courage to scrap all the gibberish.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Such Potential...
Although the concept of the book is interesting, I must agree with previous comments made about the irritating writing style, and feel it detracted slightly from my overall... Read more

Published on 25 Feb 2005 by elti2

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