'A genuinely fascinating book, the best kind of popular history' Literary Review This first, and some would say greatest, poet of the English language stands before the gateway of the early modern age. Chaucer lived at a time when the elite languages of former conquerors, French and Latin, were both giving way to English - no longer just the vernacular of the common people, but increasingly the language of the court, the law, and of literature. Richard West weaves a fascinating picture of this extraordinary man - spy and poet - whose character has intrigued and puzzled lovers of his comic masterpiece, "The Canterbury Tales". How did Chaucer remain so apparently cheerful and serene, through one of the cruellest eras of history? As a child he survived the Black Death, later he fought in France during the Hundred Years War, served as a diplomat in Italy, and became an MP at the angry beginnings of the Protestant Reformation, the Peasants' Revolt and the overthrow of Richard II. How much was Chaucer shaped by the age, and how much did Chaucer shape his era? This acclaimed biography and history book will appeal to both the general reader and medievalist. Richard West was a celebrated journalist and much admired biographer. He is also the author of 'The Life and Strange Surprising Adventure of Daniel Defoe.'