In Don Quixote, Cervantes describes Tirant lo Blancas `the best book in the world'. A remarkable work of fiction, probably the finest to appear anywhere in Europe before Rabelais, it has recently become increasingly familiar to English readers. However, it is a problematic book to categorise: on the one hand, it is an exciting story of Tirant's military exploits and his love for the Princess Carmesina; on the other, it is an encyclopedic work treating many aspects of late fifteenth-century society in vivid detail.
The essays collected in this volume offer a variety of fresh interpretations. They cover a vast amount of material, from questions of authorship to close readings of particular episodes, bringing a varietyof new interpretations to bear.
ARTHUR TERRY is Emeritus Professor of Literature at the University of Essex.
Contributors: RAFAEL BELTRAN, JOSEP GUIA, THOMAS R. HART, ALBERT G. HAUF, JEREMY LAWRANCE, MONTSERRAT PIERA, JOSEP PUJOL, JESUS D. RODRIGUEZ VELASCO, MARIA JESUS RUBIERA Y MATA, ARTHUR TERRY, CURT WITTLIN