All Things Medieval discussion

Has anyone read Timeline by Michael Crichton? I just finished it - it was an okay read - but it centered around time travel from present day (1999) to 1357 France in the Dordogne.

I didn't expect it to be historically accurate, especially in the "action scenes" related to the plot, but I was surprised at what seemed to be inaccuracies in the "background" information, the kind of stuff I would take to be true in a novel like this. For example, one character said that beards weren't in fashion in that time period. I didn't look it up, but in all the images I've seen from the period (tomb effigies, etc), beards were quite prevalent.

Any thoughts?

I find that inaccuracy in the historical settings to be highly distracting when reading. While I am no expert on all things historical when I read a book that differs in scene and background to others set in similar periods I tend to set the novel aside to trawl though the reference materials I have to sort out the anomalies.