Staunton, Michael 1967-

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STAUNTON, Michael 1967-

PERSONAL:

Born December 12, 1967, in Dublin, Ireland. Education: University College, Cork, B.A., 1988, M.A., 1990; University of Cambridge, Ph.D., 1995.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of History, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.

CAREER:

Educator and historian. University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, lecturer in history.

WRITINGS:

The Lives of Thomas Becket, Manchester University Press (Manchester, England), 2001, Addison-Wesley, 2002.

The Illustrated Story of Christian Ireland from St. Patrick to the Peace Process, Emerald Press, 2001.

The Voice of the Irish: The Story of Christian Ireland, Hiddenspring, 2003.

SIDELIGHTS:

Irish educator and historian Michael Staunton explores the controversial life of twelfth-century Catholic archbishop Thomas Becket in his 2002 biography The Lives of Thomas Becket. Composed primarily of sixty-two abridged biographies written of the canonized Archbishop of Canterbury closely following his murder by four knights in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170, the book was praise for making available in English translation these medieval Latin texts, whose authors include Herbert of Bosham, Gilbert Foliot, and William FitzStephen. Noting that Staunton "has done his best to lighten the darkness" surrounding Becket's life, English Historical Review contributor Frank Barlow added that The Lives of Thomas Becket "may encourage more students and teachers of medieval history to read the Lives in the original Latin."

Staunton's The Voice of the Irish: The Story of Christian Ireland surveys the growth of Christianity in northern Britain, from the first appearance of the Celts through the Protestant Reformation and the modern-day conflict between Catholics and Protestants. In Publishers Weekly a reviewer praised the book as an "evenhanded and objective historical survey" that "provides a useful introduction to a significant chapter of religious history," while in Library Journal Christopher Brennan dubbed The Voice of the Irish "well researched, well written, and eminently readable."