' … the sensitivity of the criticism of individual works astonishes and persuades. The Gawain-poet's indication of every sensation, every thought and every move in the temptation scenes; the realization that Piers Plowman is a poem of voices in which time and objects have only a limited value; the shared cultural background which fuses the dialogue between Dreamer and Knight in The Book of the Duchess; the continual frustration of the reader's perceptions that make the book so rewarding.' The Times Higher Education Supplement

'Every part of this book is rewarding … Especial attention should be called to the felicity of the writing … Although it is described as translation, the text reads more smoothly than many books composed originally in english.' Studies in the Age of Chaucer

'This stimulating book combines diligent reading in medieval texts with adventurous reading in modern European and American critical methods … a spirited critical adventure into English medieval narrative.' Cambridge Review