The Murder of William of Norwich: The Origins of the Blood Libel in Medieval Europe - Hardcover

Rose, E.M

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0190219629 ISBN 13: 9780190219628

Publisher: OUP USA, 2015

Synopsis

xii 394p hardback, a fresh copy, in excellent condition, clean and firm, new

About this title

Review:

[EM Rose's] book is both a scrupulous dissection of anti-semitic imagery and a fascinating window into the medieval imagination. (Dominic Sandbrook, Books of the Year 2015, The Sunday Times)

Lucid and exhaustively researche (Alfred Thomas , The Times Literary Supplement)

A tremendous book. This is forensic historical reasoning allied to hugely readable storytelling: part murder mystery, part masterly thesis exploring a deeply unpleasant and sinister aspect of medieval culture, which is still of immense significance today. The Murder of William of Norwich is one the most stimulating pieces of serious historical storytelling I have read all year. (Dan Jones, The Sunday Times)

a medieval whodunnit with global implications which continue to this day ... a murder mystery every bit as thrilling as anything in the fictional genre ... This is a book which works on several levels; rattling murder yarn, authoritative social history; penetrative insight into the way the medieval mind worked. (Nigel Nelson, Tribune)

... [Rose has] delved into the record more deeply than most historians of the period to explain how the ritual murder story originated and was spread. It is to be hoped that her book will remind readers that the story was from the start a mendacious one - "No charge has withstood historical scrutiny," Rose writes - and that its repetition has been responsible for the shedding of much innocent blood. (Frank Freeman, Dublin Review of Books)

EM Rose's thorough, accessible and forensically researched study is a reminder of Judaism's sorrow-fillled history. It is also a pertinent warning about the dangers of greed, envy, paranoia and spreading rumours. (Patrick West, Catholic Herald)

an engrossing look not only at the mediaeval origin of one of Europe's oldest and most notorious conspiracy theories but also at the ways in which that story has been reused and repurposed in different contexts. (James Holloway, Fortean Times)

There is only one weapon against superstition enlightenment and there is nothing better suited for the struggle with ignorance than Emily Rose's book about William of Norwich. (Meduza)

A short review cannot do justice to Rose's painstaking examination of these charges of ritual murder, nor to the political and ecclesiastical climate in which they were brought ... Despite being confined to the 12th century, Rose's masterly treatment of the murder of William and the other children has an uncomfortable relevance for Christians engaged in dialogue with Jews, and deserves the widest readership. (Anthony Phillips, Church Times)

Rose, a meticulous and perceptive scholar, makes a strong case for her hypothesis that the cult was particularly promoted in northern France ... Rose's highly original conflation of sources from different historical traditions make for an important addition to the literature on the blood libel. Her focus on the civic life of the world in which it evolved, illuminated by a thoroughly documented account of the people who drove it, also makes her book a fascinating contribution to our understanding of the high medieval period. (Mark Glanville, Jewish Quarterly)

About the Author:

E.M Rose is a historian based in Princeton, NJ. She has taught at Johns Hopkins University, Villanova University, Princeton University, and Baruch/CUNY.

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP USA
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0190219629
• ISBN 13: 9780190219628
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416