The idea of kingship forms a recurrent theme in the poems of the so-called 'Ricardians', John Gower, William Langland, the Gawain - poet and Chaucer - unsurprisingly, during a period of considerable turmoil. This book aims to widen understanding of these poets through an examination of the theme in 'Confessio Amantis', 'Piers Plowman' and the works of the 'Gawain'-poet and then setting these against the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, the most well-known and studied of the Ricardians. It brings the other poets' work into sharper focus, showing that despite a diversity in style and approach, common concerns and attitudes underpin all of the poets under consideration. SAMANTHA RAYNER gained her PhD from Bangor University; she is currently Senior Lecturer in Publishing, Anglia Ruskin University.

Rayner is to be congratulated on the seriousness with she approaches her subject, the steadiness of purpose that carries her through her discussions of virtually every mention of kings and kingship in the relevant corpus, and for her diligence in familiarizing herself with the secondary literature. Her research provides a useful summary of the theme of kingship in Ricardian literature.'

Source: Arthuriana