Norman Cantor was the author of numerous books including, "Medieval History: The Life and Death of a Civilization"; "Inventing the Middle Ages: The Lives, Works and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century"; "The Sacred Chain: A History of the Jews"; and, "In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made."
Norman Frank Cantor (November 19, 1929 – September 18, 2004) was a Canadian-American medievalist. Known for his accessible writing and engaging narrative style, Cantor's books were among the most widely read treatments of medieval history in English. He estimated that his textbook The Civilization of the Middle Ages, first published in 1963, had a million copies in circulation.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to a Jewish family, Cantor received a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Manitoba in 1951. He moved to the United States to obtain an M.A. degree (1953) from Princeton University, then spent a year as a Rhodes Scholar at Oriel College, Oxford. He returned to Princeton and received his Ph.D. in 1957 under the direction of eminent medievalist Joseph R. Strayer. He also began his teaching career at Princeton.
Video Title: "The Medieval Jew" - Norman Cantor. Source: IISHJvid. Date Published: January 14, 2015. Description:
Norman Cantor, Professor of History, Sociology and Comparative Literature at New York University, offers a rousing re-evaluation of the achievements of medieval Jewish civilization.
