The surviving correspondence of Ruricius, bishop of Limoges adc. 485–c. 510, occupies a significant position among the sources available to students of the period immediately preceding and following the deposition of the Emperor Romulus Augustulus in ad 476, the conventional end date of the western Roman empire. Generally, however, its importance and interest has been seen as secondary in most areas, both secular and ecclesiastical, to the extant works of such more celebrated contemporaries as Sidonius Apollinaris and Faustus of Riez. Combined with the fact that Ruricius' letters survive only in a single manuscript, the Codex Sangallensis 190, this position has resulted in the work's inclusion in various series of critical editions and translations without attracting a great deal of wider debate or controversy. Indeed, with MGH, CSEL and CCL editions, supplemented by a recent English translation by Ralph Mathisen with a substantial introduction and numerous footnotes, it might be tempting to conclude that any further treatment would be dispensable, if not superfluous. Marino Neri's edition, however, clearly shows that there is a great deal to be gained by returning to a seemingly familiar text. As Neri outlines in a concise introduction, setting out briefly the known details of Ruricius' life and summarising its wider context, the main source of interest for scholars in Ruricius' letters lies in their value for appreciating the position and concerns of someone who was important and well connected, especially in his south Gallic sphere, but who was not in the front rank of secular and ecclesiastical affairs. Neri's book suits this approach well; he reproduces the Latin text of Roland Demeulenaere's 1985 CCL edition virtually unchanged and, although the clear Italian facing translation is a welcome aid for interpreting Ruricius, the main strength of the work consists of more than two hundred pages of expansive endnotes. Comprising together a comprehensive commentary encompassing the latest scholarly discussion, these notes offer detailed explanations of Ruricius' language (down to the usage of individual words and phrases, such as ‘pietas vestra’ and other honorific forms of address), style and references to people, places and historical events. As a result, Neri has effectively made Ruricius' work a gateway for exploring not only the turbulent political and economic situation of the later fifth and early sixth centuries, but also such wider topics as epistolatory culture and the role of bishops in late antiquity. The only drawback to this is the lack of a full subject index, which would have further increased the value of the endnotes as a reference tool, although an index nominum describes Ruricius' correspondents. What Neri has provided, then, in a clear and attractive format, is an accessible paperback edition of Ruricius' letters that also functions as a useful guide to the situation in which he lived and the traditions in which he wrote.