Customer Reviews

Thomas Becket

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What makes this book particularly appealing is that this was released after the authors death. It was the admiration and dedication of Mayr-Harting is resonsible for the book's release, and the reader is thankful for it. After a moving Introduction about Urrey and his love of Canterbury by Mayr-Harding, the book starts and does not let go.

This book is perfect for armchair historians who know about the martyrdom and wants to know "what really happened". It is highly detailed, but not to the point of boredom. And it is blessedly edited for a reader, not a scholar. While the author seems to have definite opinions about certain figures, he is decidedly neutral about Becket, stating events as they occur. But, after reading this book, one comes away with a much shrewder version of the Saint. It's pretty clear that Thomas knew he was going to die and he was not going away quietly. Even though you know what is going to happen, it actually builds tension. Urrey spares nothing as he graphically (and I do mean graphic!)describes the murder. Which brings me to my only complaint. The author gives and enjoyable and fascinating background to the four murderers, but does not give any information on them after the murder. Not even a "no more records are given after this."

That aside, I highly recommend this book. It's a shame that the author is no longer with us. I would love to have heard what else he would have liked to say.

A book packed with this much detail is usually intended for scholars, but "Thomas Becket" makes a fine read for a general audience. William Urry's "Becket" is all the better because Urry was a long-time resident, and lover, of Canterbury. He had previously co-authored a book about leading citizens of the town from the Anglo-Saxon period through the middle ages. Urry's other books about the town to which Becket's name is inextricably linked include, "A Pictorial Guide to Canterbury Cathedral," "Christopher Marlowe and Canterbury," and "Canterbury Under the Angevin Kings." These, of course, include Henry II, Becket's dearest friend turned nemesis. Urry died before he could publish his impressive "Thomas Becket." For that, readers owe much to Urry's friend, Henry Mayr-Harting, who wrote the Foreword.

Robert Fripp, author of

"Power of a Woman. Memoirs of a turbulent life: Eleanor of Aquitaine"