Synopsis from book cover:

The fascinating story of the Cathar movement in southern France, from a revolutionary flowering to its hideous suppression by crusade of Church and King.

Review:

The book was previously entitled The Perfect Heresy, The Revolutionary Life and Death of Medieval Cathars. The narrative brings to life the medieval world of Cathars, describing the crusades against them and the atrocities of the inquisition.

The book starts by listing the key figures in the Cathar story allowing the reader to connect with each of them as the tragic story of suppression unfolds.  The book is very clever in that it reads like a novel making it easily accessibly for everyone, whilst containing detailed historical accounts of the period and the people.   It gives a clear overview of the Albigensian crusade in southern France and the massacre of a group of people for expressing a spiritual perspective that threatened the teachings of the Church and the authority of the King.

The book is complete with sources and a selected bibliography for those who wish to explore the subject further.

One of the books I am currently reading is ‘The Perfect Heresy: The Life and Death of the Cathars‘ by Stephen O’Shea.  At the beginning of the chapter on Carcassonne there is a perfect description of what I saw and how I felt when I caught my first fleeting glimpse of Carcassonne as I traveled from Toulouse airport:

TO APPROACH CARCASSONNE for the first time is to dream with your eyes open.  the turrets and bastions of the old city stand on a deceptive rise in the valley of the River Aude, so the crenelated citadel appears suddenly, floating in the middle distance, a visitor from another time.  The tan stone blocks of the ramparts turn auburn, then mauve in the late afternoon sun.