Runner-up, General History Book of the Year, Ancestors Magazine
'Issues of religious doctrine and beliefs are once more at the forefront of political and cultural conflicts around the world. Andrew Roach's interesting book can help us understand our modern world better, and should have a wide appeal to non-specialist readers'
Paul Ormerod, author of the best-selling 'Death of Economics' and 'Butterfly Economics'
'fascinating new study....a refreshing look at the church of the high middle ages'
Morning Star
'a well written work. And as with the best academic texts the footnotes are a joy in themselves. '
Ancestors Magazine
'...a stimulating contribution to Longman's excellent Medieval World series...a scholarly and cogently assembled work that succeeds in making an important contribution to the history of medieval heresy.'
Jonathan Phillips, The Times Higher Education Supplement, July 7 2006
'Medieval Europe was a market-place whose principal commodity was religion. Because heresy meant choice, it was as subject to market forces as to the terrors of the devil or the Inquisition. Catharism was a lifestyle rather than a frightening secret society. This is the controversial argument sustained with great lucidity throughout this book. It is original, accessible and scholarly, as well as being an excellent guide to the most recent research.'
Michael Clanchy FBA, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History, Institute of Historical Research, University of London
'Here, in Andrew Roach's nuanced reconstruction, is a clear and objective analysis of the way the close relationship between social and economic change and religious dissent worked in real life, devoid of the ideological baggage which has so often distorted such interpretations in the past.'
Malcolm Barber, Professor of Medieval European History, University of Reading
