The Last Knight: The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era / Norman F. Cantor

This is a VERY fast read. As a lot of the other reviews have noted, Cantor leaves a lot out. Which is just fine. I don't think his intent was to write the definitive text of John of Gaunt and the era he lived in. That would have required several volumes and only serious academics would have been interested in it. Cantor is more interested in writing stuff that sells as opposed to writing the absolute best history on the market. A lot of good writers (Barbara Tuchman, Lord Norwich) do this and I don't have a problem with it. Historical studies will never reach a wider audience if books aren't written to engage the public. Call it popular history. While this book struggles at times to engage its audience, it's meant to be a very broad overview. The purpose was to show that Gaunt lived in at the end of an era and the beginning of a new era - it wasn't to explain in detail the socioeconomic, military-political realities of Western Europe during John of Gaunt's lifetime.

I find other commentators all too willing to sit in judgement and demand the book have more "facts". Obviously they do not understand the job of the historian to complete a puzzle of the past--in this case John of Gaunt--while having only a fraction of the pieces. If they bothered reading any other books on medieval history by Cantor they might realize he is a historian of the first degree and has an encyclopediac memory of the subject. They might try Reinventing the Middle Ages for a starter. It is sad this great historian has passed away. I find his later books such as the Last Knight to be written in a very readable style, not as focused on documenting every reference, but more intent on sharing his valuable impressions.