Book excerpt: In recent decades, works of the gentry have revolutionized out understanding of late medieval and early modern England. In Vassals, Heiresses, Crusaders, and Thugs, Hugh M. Thomas takes the study of the gentry back to the period 1154-1216. His conclusions not only reveal remarkable similarities between the gentry of various periods but also shed light on the massive changes that transformed England in the Angevin Period.