In the absence of modern scholarly reconstructions of the well-documented 431 Council of Ephesus, this translation of its documents and proceedings aims “to present all the material of significance for an historian of the course and politics of the council” (viii). The latest installation of Liverpool University Press's well-reputed Translated Texts for Historians series offers another major resource for the general study of late antiquity and the particulars of the Ephesus council.

Price's translation shows exemplary consistency and readability. Graumann, in his extended introduction to extant manuscripts attesting the council, the course of its historical unfolding, and the theological concerns animating its proceedings, as well as in his notes on individual sources, provides a well-balanced perspective to readers with varying levels of familiarity. Price and Graumann organize the sources of the council chronologically into six periods: (1) “Before the Council”; (2) “The Sessions of 22 June”; (3) “After the Session of 22 June”; (4) “The ‘Session’ of 22 July”; (5) “From the End of July till Nestorius’ Retirement”; and (6) “From the Colloquia at Chalcedon to the Dissolution of the Council.” These primary sections are accompanied by a concluding epilogue and two appendices: (1) a report of attendance at the council (621–627), and (2) materials from the Coptic Acts of Ephesus (629–642). The authors have even included a glossary (643–650), an instructive set of maps (667–673), an inventory of persons from across the Acta (675–692), and a listing of the documents in the order provided previously by the Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum (693–696).

In organizing, translating, and commenting upon these crucial sources, Price and Graumann have performed a commendable service to the study of late antique history, culture, and religion. This volume bears utility for any level of approach taken to the Ephesus council, whether the in-depth study of an expert or the administration of an undergraduate course in which the council plays an important part. It promises to make a substantial contribution in areas such as the development of Christology, the politics and religion of the late antique empire, the means by which church leaders maintained relationships across the empire, the procedural customs of conciliar meetings, and the reception history of church councils.