The Index of Middle English Prose when completed will be a monumental achievement' REVIEW OF ENGLISH STUDIES

This is a unique anthology. Drawing on the full range of English prose, wherever it has been written, it illustrates the growth, development, and resources of the language from the legends of Sir Thomas Malory to the novels of Kashuo Ishiguro. In the process it reveals a variety ofachievements which no other language can match. The book represents an enormous diversity of men and women - from John Bunyan to John Updike, from Brendan Behan to Chinua Achebe, from Dorothy Wordsworth to Patrick White. As the centuries progress, American writers increase their presence, and by the twentieth century there are contributions fromIndia, Australia, Canada, Nigeria, the Caribbean and many other parts of the world. The selection is no less remarkable for its breadth in terms of subject-matter and treatment. Fiction is generously represented, but many other kinds of writing have also been drawn on: letters, diaries, and memoirs; history and philosophy; criticism and reportage; sermons and satire; travel-books;reflections on art, science, politics and sport. There are classic and well-loved passages, and also a great deal that is unfamiliar. John Gross has chosen with consummate skill to produce a volume that is both a testimonial to English prose and an endless source of pleasurable browsing.

The essays in this volume provide an up-to-date and authoritative guide to the major prose Middle English authors and genres. Each chapter is written by a leading authority on the subject and offers a succinct account of all relevant literary, history and cultural factors that need to considered, together with bibliographical references. Authors examined include the writers of the Ancrene Wisse, the Katherine Group and the Wohunge Group; Richard Rolle; Walter Hilton; Nicholas Love; Julian of Norwich; Margery Kempe; "Sir John Mandeville"; John Trevisa, Reginald Pecock; and John Fortescue. Genres discussed include romances, saints' lives, letters, sermon literature, historical prose, anonymous devotional writings, Wycliffite prose, and various forms of technical writing. The final chapter examines the treatment of Middle English prose in the first age of print. Contributors: BELLA MILLETT, RALPH HANNA III, AD PUTTER, KANTIK GHOSH, BARRY A. WINDEATT, A.C. SPEARING, IAN HIGGINS, A.S.G. EDWARDS, VINCENT GILLESPIE, HELEN L. SPENCER, ALFRED HIATT, FIONA SOMERSET, HELEN COOPER, GEORGE KEISER, OLIVER S. PICKERING, JAMES SIMPSON, RICHARD BEADLE, ALEXANDRA GILLESPIE.