I just came across the news that medieval historian Norman F. Cantor died last week. (There’s a short and entertaining article about his feisty letters to the editor in today’s Boston Globe.) I have no idea whether he was a conservative (but look at those letters!), though I do know he was a fine historian–an excellent writer with a penchant for concision and color. The last book of his I read was Antiquity. Here’s a memorable line from it: “Plato was part of a fast crowd of rich young men who gathered around Socrates, a hippie stonecutter who expounded on philosophy in the Athenian agora, or marketplace, perhaps to avoid going home to face his shrewish wife.” No matter what the topic–ancient irrigation, barbarian invasions, or Greek philosophy–Cantor sucks you in and fascinates. He is probably best known for The Civilization of the Middle Ages; if you’re going to read one book on medieval Europe, that’s it. I’ve also enjoyed Inventing the Middle Ages, which is about medieval historiography. Fans of LOTR will want to check out what he says about Tolkien, and fans of Narnia will profit from what he says about C.S. Lewis. Norman Cantor may be gone, but his words and ideas continue to live with us.