Decameron

A brilliant new translation of the work that Herman Hesse called "the first great masterpiece of European storytelling." In the summer of 1348, with the plague ravaging Florence, ten young men and women take refuge in the countryside, where they entertain themselves with tales of love, death, and corruption, featuring a host of characters, from lascivious clergymen and mad kings to devious lovers and false miracle-makers. Named after the Greek for "ten days," Boccaccio's book of stories draws on ancient mythology, contemporary history, and everyday life, and has influenced the work of myriad writers who came after him. J. G. Nichols's new translation, faithful to the original but rendered in eminently readable modern English, captures the timeless humor of one of the great classics of European literature. From the Hardcover edition.

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–75) was an Italian author and poet who has long been honored—along with Petrarch and Dante—as one of the three fathers of Italian literature.
 
J. G. Nichols is a British poet, literary critic, and translator.  He was awarded the John Florio prize for his translation of the poems of Guido Gozzano, and his translation of Petrarch's Canzoniere won the Monselice Prize.