Saints: A Very Short Introduction

In this Very Short Introduction Simon Yarrow explores sainthood, sanctity, and the lives of saints themselves. Explaining their social, cultural, and political roles through history, he considers them as forms of literary and artistic expression, and concludes by looking at their relevance in the modern world.

Simon Yarrow was Past and Present Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, London, and worked at St. Mary's University College, Birkbeck College, and the University of Liverpool, before taking up a Lectureship at the University of Birmingham in 2004. From 2011-13 he spent two years as Visiting Fellow at the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute. He is the author of Saints and Their Communities: Miracle Stories in Twelfth Century England (OUP, 2006).