Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) gained an international reputation as a scholar of mythology and comparative religion. As a young man, Campbell became interested in mythology after reading about Native American beliefs. He studied at Columbia University and at universities in Paris, France, and Munich, Germany. Campbell's wide-ranging scholarship included thorough knowledge of medieval French, the language of much romance literature about knights in shining armor, and of Sanskrit, the language of the religious texts of early India. Campbell's books include a study of hero myths, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and a multivolume comparative study of mythologies around the world, The Masks of God. Shortly before Campbell's death, broadcast journalist Bill Moyers interviewed him and followed up by producing a television series and a book based on these interviews called The Power of Myth.