Chaucer lived through a period of extraordinary upheaval: a protracted war with France, devastating plague, the peasants' revolt, religious controversy, and the

This book examines Chaucer's life and poetry through the lens of his cultural experience. It offers a wide-ranging account of the medieval society from which hi

Provides a rich and varied reference resource, illuminating the different contexts for Chaucer and his work.

"More than any other canonical English writer, Geoffrey Chaucer lived and worked at the centre of political life -- yet his poems are anything but conventional.

The novels of Charlotte and Emily Bronte have become canonical texts for the application of twentieth century literary and cultural theory. Along with the work