No one working today in Middle English studies or in period-related film and/or documentary can proceed untouched by Terry Jones' thought-provoking views. Through films such as Monty Python and the Holy Grail, educational television series for BBC and the History Channel, and books such as Chaucer's Knight and Who Murdered Chaucer?, Jones has applied his unique combination of carefully researched scholarship, keen intelligence, fearless skepticism of establishment thinking, and broad good humor to challenge, enlighten, and reform. The Medieval Python: The Purposive and Provocative Work of Terry Jones collects original essays by prominent and diverse medievalists in literature and history to celebrate the work of a dedicated independent scholar whose criticism has redirected how we understand the world of Chaucer and life in the Middle Ages.
