Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales and Other Poems

Generally considered to be the first book written in English (rather than Latin, French or Italian), Chaucer's magnum opus is a collection of stories as told by a group of pilgrims at Canterbury. It shows Chaucer's knowledge of a wide variety of story-telling styles, with oral storytelling being the norm at that time. It is widely believed by modern scholars that this work was unfinished at his death. This book also includes other poems, some of which are no longer attributed to him. David Laing Purves edited Chaucer's work to make it more accessible to more modern audiences, and has added many notes and explanations, which can be found in the text.(Summary by LynneT)