Stephen Thomas Knight

A solid read. Inevitably, a work like this reads somewhat like the thesis or research project that it was. Not every section would be engaging for someone just wanting to learn about crime fiction in Australia, since many works are rushed through or referenced primarily to hammer home a particular thematic point. But as a piece of research during that great period in the 1980s and 1990s when Australian historians were at their best in discovering our cultural past, this is a worthy one. Knight is open about the fact that much of this was new research at the time. He occasionally uncovers books that have not been mentioned in the core 20th century texts on Australian lit, and he recognises that future researchers will no doubt find more stories in the genre. And for that we can always be thankful.… (altro)

This is a large anthology of material, chiefly about Robin Hood but including several stories of other outlaws. It overlaps with the other collection Medieval Outlaws in terms of the tales included, but since this one is a TEAMS collection, most of the items are in the original forms (late Middle English and early Modern English), with only a few of the tales which were originally in Latin or Anglo-Norman French (Hereward, Eustace the Monk, Fulk Fitz Warin) in modern English, while in Medieval Outlaws all the tales are in Modern English prose. Besides, the tales, the story includes brief chronicle mentions of Robin Hood. Two of the chronicle references (Walter Bower and John Major) are also translated from Latin.This collection also includes many later ballads and some plays on Robin Hood not in the other collection.… (altro)

This book is a wide-ranging anthology including both recent scholarship and notable earlier pieces. It is divide into fur sections, the first one on the literature inspired by Robin Hood, from the early poems down to the 19th century novel Maid Marion. Then there is a section of historical studies which to me are the strongest part, by well-known scholars in medieval English history including Hilton, Holt, Maddicott, Cook, Hanawalt, Hill, and Colin Richmond, among others, covering the long and serious debates about the historical basis (if any) of Robin Hood and the nature of his audience. The third section includes Sir Sidney Lee's original DNB article arguing Robin never existed as well as Lord Raglan's attempt (not very successful to my mind) to fit Robin Hood into his pattern of the hero ad more recent studies bu John Matthew and Joseph Nagy, followed by a final section on Robin Hood in film, ending with Knight's own study of Robin Hood: Men in Tights. All in all, it is a very useful survey of the field, bringing together much important work which was originally in widely scattered sources.… (altro)

This is a relatively recently discovered (1993) relatively late (circa 1670s) manuscript of a thorough collection of Robin Hood ballads, probably compiled for intended publication as a rival (in the editor's view a successful one) to the standard printed "Garland" collections of Robin Hood ballads. Although all the ballads included were already known from other sources, several of these are substantially earlier and better versions than those previously known mid-18th century versions. This edition's purpose is to make available an accurate edition of the ballads as they appear in this manuscript , with scholarly notes comparing these versions to the other versions already known.… (altro)