Chaucer
Ackroyd, Peter, 1949-2005
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Geoffrey Chaucer was a career civil servant and diplomat who turned his hand to literature and became the father of English poetry. Peter Ackroyd describes the remarkable life of the sometime customs officer and author of 'Canterbury Tales'. Geoffrey Chaucer has some claim to being the greatest poet in the English language. Yet he has also been considered to be an invisible poet, self-depreciating and ironic, leaving only the breath of his comedy behind. In truth a great deal is known of him. He was a royal servant, who was indicted for rape. He was captured in battle and held for ransom. He knew at first hand the most powerful people in the country and, as the king's servant; he was concerned with the most pressing events of the realm. Yet even in this crowded life he found time and opportunity to write some of the finest poems in the language. Troilus and Criseyde is the first modern work of English literature. His genius was prolific and diverse and, while he was a true London artist, he was also part of the European renaissance of learning. The Canterbury Tales is an epic of Englishness itself, presided over by the genial and generous figure of Geoffrey Chaucer.
Main title:
Chaucer / Peter Ackroyd.
Author:
Imprint:
London : Vintage, 2005.
Collation:
xvi, 175 p., [8] p. of plates : ill. (some col.), ports. (some col.) ; 20 cm.
Series title:
Notes:
Originally published: London: Chatto & Windus, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (p. 164) and index.
ISBN:
9780099287483 (pbk)
Dewey class:
821.1
LC class:
PR1905
Language:
English
Subject:
Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400Poets, English -- Middle English, 1100-1500 -- BiographyBiographyBiography & non-fiction proseLiterary studies: ancient, classical & medievalBiography: historical, political & militaryBiography: literaryLiterary studies: poetry & poetsEnglishBiography: generalPolitical leaders & leadership
BRN:
2646474
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