{"product_id":"067401815x","title":"The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief","description":"\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe elusive image of the Holy Grail has haunted the Western imagination for eight centuries. It represents the ideal of an unattainable yet infinitely desirable goal, the possibility of perfection. Initially conceived in literature, it became a Christian icon which has been re-created in a multitude of forms over time even though the Grail has no specific material attributes or true religious significance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRichard Barber traces the history of the legends surrounding the Holy Grail, beginning with Chrétien de Troyes's great romances of the twelfth century and the medieval Church's religious version of the secular ideal. He pursues the myths through Victorian obsessions and enthusiasms to the popular bestsellers of the late twentieth century that have embraced its mysteries. Crisscrossing the borders of fiction and spirituality, the quest for the Holy Grail has long attracted writers, artists, and admirers of the esoteric. It has been a recurrent theme in tales of imagination and belief which have laid claim to the highest religious and secular ideals and experiences. From Lancelot to Parsifal, chivalric romances to Wagner's Ring, T. S. Eliot to Monty Python, the Grail has fascinated and lured the Western imagination from beyond the reach of the ordinary world.\u003c\/p\u003e The New York Times \u003cp\u003eMr. Barber, the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Penguin Guide to Medieval Europe\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Knight and Chivalry,\u003c\/i\u003e demonstrates a gift for lucid, lively prose and an ability to make highly complex developments - cutting across religion, literature and politics - both immediate and accessible … Though the current best seller \u003ci\u003eThe Da Vinci Code\u003c\/i\u003e didn't make it into these pages, Mr. Barber provides a sweeping if cursory index of allusions to the Grail, in works ranging from T. S. Eliot's \u003ci\u003eWaste Land\u003c\/i\u003e to Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. — \u003ci\u003eMichiko Kakutani\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eCategories:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHistory\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEurope\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\u003cli class=\"category-tree\"\u003eGeneral\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWorld\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReligious\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\u003cli class=\"category-tree\"\u003eGeneral\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePolitics \u0026amp; Social Sciences\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSocial Sciences\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\u003cli class=\"category-tree\"\u003eFolklore \u0026amp; Mythology\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReligion \u0026amp; Spirituality\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReligious Studies\u003cul class=\"category-tree\"\u003e\u003cli class=\"category-tree\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eBook details\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/strong\u003e Barber, Richard\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e paperback\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Harvard University Press\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/strong\u003e English\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 488\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9780674018150\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Harvard University Press","offers":[{"title":"Used - Poor","offer_id":49279070208190,"sku":"067401815X-6","price":4.47,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0640\/9689\/5166\/files\/51mtcrsXeaL._SL500.jpg?v=1791942575","url":"https:\/\/shop.sustainablebooks.com\/products\/067401815x","provider":"Sustainable Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}