Robin Hood (with 51 Illustrations and 5 Maps)

In the many volumes of the British Dictionary of National Biography one figure enjoys a unique distinction: the article on Robin Hood is devoted entirely to arguing that he never existed. Now Professor James Holt, one of Britain's premier historians and author of the standard work on Magna Carta, unravels pure invention from real possibility and brings us closer than ever before to the significance -- and centuries-long appeal -- of the Robin Hood legend. He roundly assesses the evidence for the historical "Robin Hood," but sees the origins as lying with the yeomen and hangers-on of the households of noblemen and gentry of the later Middle Ages, living in a society never far from violence and expressing through Robin Hood their love of adventure, their discontent, and their readiness to idealize lawlessness. From there the tale was carried from tavern to marketplace and beyond, sustaining Robin's popularity -- in many different guises -- to the present day.