A pope, a king, a count and thousands of dissident believers, a.k.a. heretics. In the thirteenth century a ferocious crusade against Christians was launched in the heart of Europe. By its sanguinary end, the Great Heresy, or Catharism, was no more.
Daily Telegraph (UK) (2000):
O’Shea’s history of the suppression of the Cathars is gripping, moving and well-informed. It makes a wonderful, if painful, read. It is an example of popular history at its best.
The New Yorker (2001):
… O’Shea’s book is the Oliver Stone movie of the Cathar conflict…
