The introductory chapter to this collection of essays sets out its main aims as ‘to guide readers through the field and [to] add new scholarship in the study of Alfred, his times, and the artistic and literary productions associated with the king and his court' (p. 1). In broad terms Discenza and Szarmach have successfully achieved those aims by bringing together an excellent array of leading scholars in the field of the Alfredian educational and cultural renaissance. What is more, they have produced a wide-ranging collection which will be particularly useful to any student of the vernacular texts (mostly translations) arguably produced in the sphere of the West Saxon king.

The volume presents thirteen studies divided into three main parts (Context, Alfred as author and Alfrediana). This division, logical as it may be, is slightly undermined by the weight of the central section, which comprises more than half of the articles (seven). Moreover, all but the three opening pieces, which provide wider historical and artistic studies, focus on the vernacular translation of Latin texts (those most necessary for people to know) of the late ninth century. Two further exceptions are Richards's piece on the Laws of Alfred and Ine and Irvine's broad study on the origins, creation and development of the Anglo-Saxon chronicle. Yet the question of Alfredian authorship is acknowledged as key to this volume (p. 232) and, in an attempt to tackle this controversial issue, the editors decided to present mostly individual essays for each text, hence the weight given to literary (and linguistic) analyses of the vernacular renderings. Apart from the enlightening, in-depth discussions, each contributor provides a wide overview of the current state of the question that they address. Thus, for instance, Bately (ch. iv) reviews the so-called ‘Alfredian canon’ before arguing for a probable role of the king in the translation of the four items that are now accepted as part of that canon, whereas Irvine (ch. v) reflects on the role played by Alfredian prefaces and epilogues before concluding that the issue of their originality is secondary to the ‘fluid manuscript culture’ that produced them, shedding light on an ‘on-going process of textual presentation’ (p. 170).

Finally, both an ‘Annotated bibliography on the authorship issue’ and thirty-six pages of general bibliography are provided, constituting highly useful resources for any scholar or scholar interested in the programme of scholarship set by King Alfred in the last decades of the ninth century.