At this Webpage, you can read brief online reviews of three of Basho's books, Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton, A Visit to the Kashima Shrine, and Records of a Travel-Worn Satchel.

History of Haiku: 10 Haikuists and Their Works
http://www.big.or.jp/~loupe/links/ehisto/ebasho.shtml

Click here to view a brief description of "…the first great poet in the history of hakai (and haiku)." Also included at this site is a picture of Matsuo Basho, and full-text versions of eleven of his haikus.

University of Oregon: Matsuo Basho
http://www.uoregon.edu/~kohl/basho/life.html

This Webpage, maintained by the University of Oregon's English Department, provides you with an excellent and intriguing biography of Basho, along with full-text versions of many of his haikus.

BIOGRAPHY
Matsuo Basho (b. 1644), the pseudonym of Matsuo Munefusa, was born in Japan during the early Edo period. As was his family's tradition, Basho became a samurai at the age of 20, but rejected that life style to study Zen Buddhism and haiku poetry. He took his pen name from "basho-an," a hut made of plantain leaves. From 1667 he lived in Edo (now Tokyo), and produced what some say are the most perfect examples of haiku poetry. He is credited with revitalizing the haiku art form and is widely acknowledged as one of Japan's greatest poets.