The Civilization of the Renaissance

The works presented in Medieval Epics are Beowulf the greatest achievement of Old English literature, and the legend of Castilian hero The Cid (both translated by the renowned poet W. S. Merwin); the Middle High German epic poem The Niebelungenlied (translated by critic and academic Helen Mustard); and the Old French poem The Song of Roland (translated by William Alfred, professor of English at Harvard). The translators are preeminent authorities, and they provide critical evaluations and discussions of the technical and historical aspects of the works. Other than The Cid, these renderings are unique to this Modern Library edition.

The Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt published his vastly influential account of Renaissance culture in 1860. Burckhardt's achievement was to produce a lively and highly readable history that is still relevant: a fine account of the full panorama of the period and the revolutionary changes it encompassed, together with a masterful discussion of both the nature of civilization itself anti our place within it.