The World of "Piers Plowman"
Jeanne Krochalis and Edward Peters, Editors
288 pages | 5 1/2 x 8
Paper 1975 | ISBN 0-8122-1085-9 | $19.95 | £13.00
A volume in the Middle Ages Series series
Next to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, William Langland’s Piers Plowman
is perhaps the best-known literary picture of fourteenth-century
England. Langland’s work, more socially concerned and critical than
Chaucer’s, reflected an age of religious controversy, social upheaval,
and political unrest. The World of "Piers Plowman" puts the
reader in touch with the sources that helped shape Langland’s somber
vision. The representative documents included in this book, often cited
in connection with the poem yet difficult to come by, disclose the
background of Piers Plowman in social and economic history as well as folklore, art, theology, homilies, religious tractates, and chronicles.
For review copies, contact Ellen Trachtenberg at ellenpt@pobox.upenn.edu.
