Hagiography
By Simon Digby. Edited by David Lunn. With an Introduction by James Mallinson
Hagiography or accounts of saints canonized by a sectarian tradition is a special kind of memory making which is much drawn upon by historians but rarely studied as a genre of history writing. Hagiographies get written when a religious sect assumes social presence and seeks popular patronage, and finds it useful to doctor the memories of saints held high in popular esteem.
Reviewed by: CN Subramaniam