A translation, with commentary, of the chronicle of Baldric of Bourgueil certainly does have merit. This is the first translation of this First Crusade chronicle into a modern language. Introductory comments are provided by Steven J. Biddlecombe, who published in 2014 an edition of the Latin text of the chronicle, the first since the edition published as a part of the Recueil des historiens des croisades. An English translation has now been completed by Susan B. Edgington who published in 2007 a critical edition and translation of Albert of Aachen's First Crusade chronicle.

The introductory comments are largely based on the introduction to the Latin edition, which is to some extent unavoidable. They start with a summary of the biography of Baldric of Bourgueil which is almost entirely based on the introduction to the Latin edition. But some of the material is new: there is a comparison between the text of Baldric and other texts of the ‘Gesta family’ (i.e. chronicles of the First Crusades which are considered to be based on an anonymous chronicle entitled the Gesta Francorum), above all the Gesta Francorum itself. This section includes a summary of the historiography on the Gesta Francorum and its relationship with other chronicles. It should be noted that this summary is unfortunately not exhaustive: the most striking point is that there is no mention of publications by Jean Flori, and above all his Chroniqueurs et propagandists: introduction critique aux sources de la Première Croisade (Geneva 2010), which is entirely dedicated to a comparative analysis of all the chronicles of the First Crusade, including those belonging to the Gesta family. Biddlecombe also makes some textual comparisons between various chronicles of the Gesta family. Thus, he addresses the issue of their attitudes towards the Byzantines during the First Crusade. Though this is a much broader and more complicated issue than is presented in the book under review, I agree with Biddlecombe that Baldric of Bourgueil has a generally positive attitude towards the Byzantines, unlike the other chronicles in the Gesta family. There is also a curious section on how the authors’ regional and institutional interests may explain why attention in these basically similar chronicles is sometimes focused on different people. Such variety of interests probably clarifies why Baldric is less circumspect and more critical towards Count Stephen of Blois and his departure from the crusader army during the siege of Antioch than Robert the Monk and Guibert of Nogent, who were from Northern France where the count had powerful familial links. This observation is certainly worthy of attention.

The section on manuscript transmission and the reception of the text is mostly based on the corresponding parts of the Latin edition with very few changes and amendments. From it we learn that the text of the chronicle is known to have survived into the modern era in twenty-five manuscripts, one of them being destroyed by fire during World War II. No new manuscripts have apparently been discovered since then.

The translation is based on Biddlecombe's edition. Unlike the edition published in the Recueil des historiens des croisades, which was an attempt at text reconstruction based on seven manuscripts, here preference was given to one specific early manuscript, the transcription of which was edited, with alternative readings from almost all the other manuscripts provided in the critical apparatus. The translation is well done and is accompanied by the kind of critical apparatus which is absent from the Latin edition: the latter has only scribal readings. Likewise biblical and non-biblical quotations and allusions, as well as historical and textual comments are provided only in the translated version. That is to say, it is better to have both volumes at hand when working on the chronicle. In addition to the index, this volume has an appendix on ‘people and places’, which contains extensive comments on proper nouns related to individuals, peoples and geographical names present in the chronicle. Though not exhaustive and very selective, this appendix is very helpful.

All in all this volume makes a strong contribution to crusader studies, and will be extremely valuable both for students and scholars.