Translator Shirley notes that the concisely rhyming octosyllabic couplets of the 14th century poet Guillaume de Marchaut don't work in English, so she fell back on blank verse in a translation that strives to be faithful but not slavish. De Marchaut's history recounts the exploits and death of Peter I (1329-69), the king of Cyprus whose crusade in 1365 famously overran the Egyptian port of Alexandria. Peter Edbury (medieval history, Cardiff U.) provides an introduction and notes; the work concludes with an excerpt from the anonymous French Chronicle of the first four Valois , which describes some otherwise unrecorded military action on the Levantine coast in 1367, and two pieces related to the murder of King Peter. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)