John Lydgate

"Larry Scanlon and James Simpson, the editors of John Lydgate: Poetry, Culture, and Lancastrian England, come right out and say it: 'We propose to take Lydgate seriously as a major poet.' Their essay collection steers away from the longest poems in favour of (more) neglected texts, and it thus enriches our sense of the vast range of Lydgate's output and his multiple roles as a poet." -Times Literary Supplement

"This impressive and significant collection situates itself at the forefront of the current whirlwind rehabilitation of the Monk of Bury that was kick-started so decisively by David Lawton in his 1987 essay 'Dullness and the fifteenth century.'" -Medium Aevum

"The collection's goal is to remedy the neglect into which Lydgate has fallen, 'by taking [him] seriously as a major poet' and in so doing to fill a gaping hole in our understanding of Middle English literary history. This well-conceived and timely collection takes us a long stride toward understanding and doing justice to an undeservedly overlooked writer and will no doubt spur future revisionist efforts with it powerful example." -Speculum

"Scanlon and Simpson have done a fine job in bringing together a range of essays on Lydgate and his works, which challenge our preconceived notions of the quality and nature of Lydgate's writing, and open up questions about literary culture in fifteenth century England." -Parergon

"As a commentator on trends of Fortune, Lydgate would have enjoyed the surge of affirmative attention his poetry has begun to attract. This revisionary book radically revalues this previously maligned poet's accomplishments." -Paul Strohm, Columbia University