Politique Languages of Statecraft Between Chaucer and Shakespeare [Paperback]

“This book will prove useful not only to scholars of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but to all interested in political rhetoric. . . . Strohm’s illuminating study reveals the oft-undervalued political and literary discourses of the mid-fifteenth century to be both ambitious and provocative. Undoubtedly, scholars will hail Strohm’s book with the same honors.”  —Sixteenth Century Journal
 

"Once again, Strohm . . . has written what is sure to be an often-cited study, and thus a significant scholarly step forward in the field of fifteenth-century English literature, politics, and historiography. . . . Strohm masterfully illustrates the artistry of late-medieval English statecraft." —Choice
 

“Paul Strohm'sPolitiqueis an important and challenging revision of scholarly attitudes towards the fifteenth century, specifically the period of the Yorkist-Lancastrian dynastic struggles from 1450 to 1485. . . . For any scholar interested in the political texts and contexts of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Politique will be essential reading.” —Mystics Quarterly
 

“'Discourse' and 'language' represent two current and fruitful approaches to understanding political thinking and actions in fifteenth-century England, displacing 'medieval' and 'renaissance' or 'early modern' and the baggage which they have accumulated over a century and a half. This book is a seductive search for roots of language and political attitudes rather than a rounded analysis of fifteenth-century political thinking and behaviour.” —English Historical Review

Paul Strohm is Anna S. Garbedian Professor Emeritus of Humanities at Columbia University.

“This book will prove useful not only to scholars of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but to all ló4