This volume of papers, read at the third military orders conference in Clerkenwell, London, in 2000, has been eagerly awaited. Its late publication is regrettable in particular for those authors whose contributions, deserving of close attention at the time, have since been superseded by recent (sometimes the authors' own) research. One example is Elena Bellomo's brilliant overview of the Templars' possessions and political and social roles in north-western Italy, which should have encouraged an increase in interest in the Italian (and other) social Templar networks long before the recent publication of her book on the same topic. This aside, the collection, dedicated to the ‘history and heritage’ of the military orders, is of immense value for the reader interested not only in the immediate history of the orders as medieval religious or military institutions but also in their historical imprint on the understanding, rendering and interpretation of modern societies and institutional communities of their past. The themes covered in this book range from the critical discussion of historiographical trends and fallacies to the use and abuse of the orders in myth and fiction, which itself seems to be becoming a new trend in crusade historiography. Most, however, take a regional perspective on particular events or periods of social and religious interaction. These often very detailed case studies give insight into the role and functions of the orders as promulgators and conscious creators of heritage and illustrate new ways of interpreting their artefacts and archaeological and bioarcheological remains (the latter in the form of latrine soil from Acre). A number of papers deal with the religious life of the orders, their relations with the papacy and their involvement with new spiritual trends. Worth mentioning in this respect is in particular Axel Ehler's investigation into the use of indulgences in the Teutonic order, which causes one to rethink the (hitherto denied) involvement of the military orders in crusade preaching. As seems to be generally the case, most of the papers in this book concern themselves with the three best studied and most easily accessible military orders, the Order of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem (the Templars), the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (the Hospitallers) and the Order of the Teutonic Knights of St Mary's Hospital in Jerusalem (the Teutonic knights), with most attention being given to the Order of St John. Minor criticism aside, this volume is of a very high standard. It is evidence that scholarly interest in the military orders has long crossed the boundaries of traditional historical study and has penetrated historia's auxiliary and neighbouring disciplines, and that it is thriving.