Paston letters

the long version

"The Pastons of Norfolk left behind them, in the earliest great collection of family letters in English, an incomparable picture of life in fifteenth-century England -- it's private ambitions, anxieties, hopes, and loves in the midst of political turmoil, local anarchy, and war abroad and at home. The letters, with their wealth of competent, practical writing, illustrate as no other documents can the capacity of the English language at a critical period of its history. Though the letters have long been widely known, they have not been newly edited for over fifty years. Professor Davis has chosen 95 of the most interesting letters, by 26 different writers, and has edited them afresh from the manuscripts, with an introduction, selected criticism, explanatory notes, and a glossary"--Dust jacket.