A light, but solid introduction to the Cathars

Review of The Perfect Heresy: The Life and Death of the Cathars by Stephen O'Shea

This is a competent popular history that is essential to know, particularly if you want to understand French history. The story takes place during the Gothic Era, a period of expansion following the Dark Ages: there are new technologies, a dynamic economy exploding with population growth, and a new openness to ideas about how society should be run. The …