Despite the many years which have passed since Sweet first published his Anglo-Saxon Reader, it remains a particularly appealing and useful anthology for the student of Old English. It contains extracts from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, as well as poems (including part of Beowulf), riddles, charters and the Preface from King Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care. Although most texts are in West Saxon, examples of Northumbrian, Mercian and Kentish dialects have also been included.