Richard William Barber is a British historian who has published several books about medieval history and literature. His book, *The Knight and Chivalry*, about the interplay between history and literature, won the Somerset Maugham Award, a well-known British literary prize, in 1971. A similarly-themed 2004 book, *The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief*, was widely praised in the UK press and received major reviews in The New York Times and The New Republic. Barber has long specialised in Arthurian legend and his other major interest is historical biography. - Wikipedia