Beatrice's Last Smile

Beatrices Last Smile is undeniably well-researched. Pegg includes often marginalised groups, such as women and Jews, and the chapters on the later Middle Ages from the Albigensian Crusade to the Black Death are a particular highlight * Helen Carr, The Spectator *A fast-paced, cinematic, and sometimes wild ride through the Middle Ages. Expertly told vignettes, penetrating character studies, engaging walks through literary works, and periodic penetrating historical analyses-there is no other introduction to the Middle Ages quite like Beatrice’s Last Smile. The book’s countless short stories hang together in an intricate, delicate narrative structure, revealing a world of deep flaws and tremendous beauty and creating a reading experience that is both intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant. * Jay Rubenstein, author of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream *Mark Gregory Pegg offers a fresh, coherent, and entirely original vision of the western Middle Ages. The intensity of his engagement with a remarkable range and variety of primary sources, the boldness of his design, and the vigour of his prose combine the pace of a spirited charger with the depth and clarity of a timeless mosaic. * R. I. Moore, Professor Emeritus of History, Newcastle University *In some of the most beautiful word portraits I have ever read, Mark Gregory Pegg has crafted a history of the West (the later Roman Empire through the end of the Middle Ages) that will captivate readers. With precision and delicacy, the pages come alive with the spiritual yearnings of people so like ourselves in their desire for the good life and yet so different in how they conceived it and thought to achieve it. This book was almost impossible to put down. It is one of the major accomplishments of modern historical scholarship and in every way a tour de force. Pegg is the real thing, a genuine magister, and Beatrice’s Last Smile is a masterpiece. * William C. Jordan, Dayton-Stockton Professor of History, Princeton University *The inclusion of such obscure figures is one of the greatest strengths of this book; accounts of little-known lives nestle alongside the stories of famous men such as Charlamagne and Chaucer. * Katherine Harvey, Church Times *Ambitious and luminous… This book is warmly recommended… Beatrice’s Last Smile communicates a world connected to ours, yet brilliantly, beguilingly, strange. * TLS *Extremely stimulating, successful and readable work. * Etienne Doublier, H-Soz-Kult *

Mark Gregory Pegg is a Professor of Medieval History at Washington University in St. Louis. He is the author of A Most Holy War: The Albigensian Crusade and the Battle for Christendom and The Corruption of Angels: The Great Inquisition of 1245-1246.