Beautifully illustrated, the book details Chaucer's service as a squire, his ambassadorial career, his Canterbury pilgrimage and his writings, never omitting the social and political realities which shaped his life.

This excellent introduction to Old English begins with an elementary grammar and includes carefully selected stories, verses and histories from a wide sampling of dialects: West Saxon, Northumbrian, late and early Kentish and early Mercian. A comprehensive glossary is included.