Jean Gimpel was a man of great physical and intellectual energy, with a big heart and strong sense of justice. A profound and very practical interest in technology, and especially that of the Middle Ages, was the thread that ran through his working life. It yielded two classic studies, The Cathedral Builders (1958) and The Medieval Machine: the Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages (1976), underpinned two further books, The Cult of Art: against art and artists (1968) and The End of the Future (1995), and helped make him an effective saboteur in the French Resistance. For his services during the Second World War he was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the Medaille de Resistance and the Legion d’Honneur.
Books in order of publication:
The Cathedral Builders (1958)
The Cult of Art: against art and artists (1968)
The Medieval Machine: the Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages (1976)
The End of the Future (1995)
Oak Lawn Library Friends 