The Paston Letters

by Leo Tolstoy

Book Overview

The Pastons of Norfolk left behind them, in the earliest great collection of family letters written in English, an incomparable picture of life in fifteenth-century England. Spanning three generations of the family and written mostly during the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV, and Richard III, the letters reveal a period in English history dominated by political turmoil, local anarchy, and war abroad and at home. Offering a selection of the letters...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192816152
• ISBN13: 9780192816153
• Release Date: April 1983
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.6" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Family life

England on the eve of the modern period was a troubled place, but the Pastons made the most of it, rising from Norfolk farming to national celebrity. Their letters (covering a period from about 1420 to 1503) give a remarkably modern idea of their characters and much fascinating information about daily life, society, commerce and the law. The women as well as the men in the family come over as extremely well informed. This seems to be the only edition in print at the moment. The entire collection was last published in two parts in 1971 and 1976, edited by Norman Davis, but the letters included here have been well selected. The Paston Letters make an eventful and informative read.