Marc Boone's book is a sound, engaging survey of recent and ongoing research in the urban history of late medieval Flanders, based on the prestigious Francqui lectures given in 2006. The book shows its author's magisterial grasp of the field (his own publications take up pp. 154–8 of the bibliography), but it does not stray outside his area of expertise. The title's reference to the Low Countries (‘anciens Pays-Bas’) notwithstanding, the book deals with Flanders only, though with occasional, justifiable claims that Flanders constitutes a particularly suitable case-study (pp. 37, 57). The author's stated aim is to make recent research in Flemish history accessible to an audience that does not read Dutch (p. 11); its lively, lucid French should pose no problem to any reasonably proficient reader of that language, and technical terms are clearly explained in the text.

The first chapter, called ‘prolégomènes’, is strictly historiographical; it comprehensively and entertainingly deals with the two pioneers of late medieval Netherlandish history, Henri Pirenne and Johan Huizinga. Each of the remaining five chapters explores a broad theme in urban history (craft guilds, revolts, behaviour and social control, urban space and state formation), usually by succinctly charting the historiography of the subject and then using material from the author's own research, often previously published elsewhere but here set in a broader context. Throughout, footnotes provide carefully chosen references for further explorations. However, the complete absence of maps, tables or figures is frustrating, especially when pictures are referred to in the text (p. 19 n. 31, p. 49 n. 77). The bibliography is valuable in itself, though marred by careless editing (‘Huizinga’ is followed by ‘Howell’, ‘Houben’; publication dates vary between footnotes and bibliography).

Anyone interested in medieval Flemish towns, and many other urban social historians, will find sections of interest in this wide-ranging book. However, accessing this treasure-trove of information and ideas is difficult, as neither the chapter titles and eccentric sub-heading system, nor the index (of person and places, but not subjects) will assist a reader trying to answer a specific question or gain an overview of a particular issue or debate. For instance, nice observations about the political impact of commercial waterways are rather hidden in a section called ‘Les pouvoirs en dehors des murs’ (pp. 117–19). Nor are the essays intended to be read in sequence, given unnecessary repetitions such as introducing Huizinga as if for the first time (p. 32), a few pages after a section about him (pp. 23–8). The themes running through the book (e.g. Pirenne, the French crown's influence, Ghent's place in the Flemish polity, less so the ‘modernity’ mentioned in the title) are not drawn together; no conclusion or thematic introduction lends the book greater coherence. In sum, this is neither an introduction for newcomers to the subject, nor a monograph putting forward a strong argument, but it is a collection of rich, evocative essays on late medieval Flemish history.