Many books were written in the Middle Ages about Alexander the Great and still more books have been written about those books in the last hundred years. In this classic study of the medieval Alexander, first published in 1956, George Cary approached the problem from an altogether different angle, using material which none of his predecessors had exploited. He asked himself the simple question: What did people really think about Alexander in the Middle Ages? The resultant answers proved various and unexpected, changing from age to age and from group to group. Published posthumously, Cary's study was edited by D. J. A. Ross, who corrected certain details, added some footnotes and included an additional section on the Histoire ancienne jusqu'a Cesar. To this were also added a number of illustrative plates and an appendix on the origins of the Greek Alexander Romance.

Latest research on the chivalric ethos of western Europe,10c-15c, from the practical (houses, armour) to the intellectual [conceptof holy war, loyalty, etc.]. The Strawberry Hill conferences on medieval knighthood, from which these volumes spring, aim to bring together historians and literary scholars whose interests focus on medieval chivalry, to bridge the gulf between the two areas of specialisation and explore matters of common interest. Eight papers cover a wide area, both territorially and chronologically,but common themes emerge. One group of essays deals with the embellishments of lordship, both architectural and heraldic, studying residences and also developments in armour. A second group concerns ideals which motivated the aristocracy of western Europe, from the late 10th to the 15th centuries: romances, the Peace movement ofAquitaine, holy war, and loyalty; concentration on rationalism and free will in thewritings of the cultural circle which revolved around Sir John Fastolfis identified as an important element in the development of the EnglishRenaissance. Professor CHRISTOPHER HARPER-BILL teaches in the Department of History, University of East Anglia; Dr RUTH HARVEY is lecturer in French at Royal Holloway, University of London. Contributors: ADRIAN AILES, JEFFREY ASHCROFT, CHARLES COULSON,JONATHAN HUGHES, JANE MARTINDALE, PETER NOBLE, MATTHEW STRICKLAND,ANN WILLIAMS.