Monty Python s Flying Circus aired from 1969 until 1974, but the impending conclusion of the series did not mark the end of the troupe s creative output. Even before the final original episodes were recorded or broadcast, the six members reconvened to begin work on their first feature length enterprise of new material. Rather than string together a series of silly skits, the members conceived a full-length storyline, with references to the real and imagined worlds of the mythical King Arthur, the lives of medieval peasants, and the gloomy climate of 1970 s Britain. Released in 1975, Monty Python and the Holy Grail was a modest success, but has since been hailed as a modern classic. In A Book about the Film Monty Python and the Holy Grail: All the References from African Swallows to Zoot, Darl Larsen identifies and examines the cultural, historical, and topical allusions of the movie. In this entertaining resource, virtually every allusion and reference that appeared in a scene whether stated by a character, depicted in the mise-en-scene, or mentioned in the print companion is identified and explained. Beyond the Arthurian legend, entries cover literary metaphors, symbols, names, peoples, and places as well as the myriad social, cultural, and historical elements that populated the film. This book employs the film as a window to both reveal and examine Arthurian life and literature, the historical Middle Ages, and a Great Britain of labor unrest, power shortages, and the common man. Introducing the reader to dozens of medievalist histories and authors, and connecting the film concretely to the modern British empire, A Book about the Film Monty Python and the Holy Grail will certainly appeal to fans of the troupe, but also to medieval scholars and academics who can, possibly, laugh at themselves and their work."