This excellent and enterprising volume is the product of local enthusiasm and scholarly endeavour, to celebrate the thousand years from the foundation of Sherborne abbey in 998. The millennium was marked by the conference held in Sherborne in April 1998 at which nine of the twenty-one papers printed here were delivered. The conference was convened by Katherine Barker, one of the volume's editors and contributors. Although the study is centred on St Wulfsige, bishop of Sherborne (c. 993–1002), his life and cult, on the history of Sherborne Abbey and on the town of Sherborne, both past and present, it ranges widely. The introduction, by the late Timothy Reuter, discusses the meaning of a millennium in the medieval chronological system against the background of social movements in Europe c. 1000. Simon Keynes follows with an examination of King Æthelred's charter of 998 for Sherborne Abbey, which gave Bishop Wulfsige permission to convert the minster served by secular clerks into a Benedictine monastery. He prints the text, with translation, and discusses the question of its authenticity, deciding in its favour; the first page is reproduced from the copy in the mid-twelfth century Sherborne cartulary (BL, ms Add. 46487, fo. 3) as the frontispiece of the volume. Rebecca Rushforth and Katherine Barker examine the ‘signature’ of Wulfsige, discussing the palaeographical context and meaning of the name. It appears in the list of bishops of Sherborne in the pontifical of St Dunstan (Paris, BN, ms lat., fo. 1v) and is reproduced, enlarged (figs 2 and 3). The list was added in the early eleventh century and possibly Wulfsige's ‘signature’ was copied from a genuine one. In another paper Keynes gives a concise account of Anglo-Saxon personal names. David Farmer discusses, in the context of the tenth-century monastic revival, the bishopric and monastery of Sherborne and the cult of saints. Eric Wood contributes a short piece which returns to the subject of the millennium, considering it in relation to the Revelation of St John – that Christ and the martyrs reigned for 1,000 years, that Satan is unchained, inflicts pain and suffering on everyone until God reigns. Wulfsige probably believed that St John wrote the cryptic prophecy, but Wood favours a date during the Jewish War (ad 66–70). Nor does Wood believe that the author intended his audience to take the concept of the 1,000 years literally, though some commentators did. Next, Nicholas Campion elucidates theological views on millenarianism and demonstrates that the concept has appeared throughout the ages in various guises, but that there is little evidence that it was interpreted in strictly chronological terms. Nevertheless, he concludes that Wulfsige did so see it in the foundation of Sherborne Abbey and saw the abbey's beautiful church and its monastic community as ‘an image of the future heaven on earth’ (p. 39). Barker contributes a paper on a similar theme, discussing millennialism in its wide historical context and the problems this raised, and also considers the numerological and palaeographical aspects of the date 998. There follows an invaluable contribution by Simon Keynes on Wulfsige’s career and on the history of the West Saxon bishopric/bishoprics: originally there was one bishop for the whole region but in 705 two dioceses were created, one at Winchester, the other at Sherborne, and then early in the tenth century the number was increased to five. Thus, the bishop of Sherborne lost pre-eminence which was further reduced by the political situation, notably the Viking onslaught. Keynes's discussion of Wulfsige's career is equally illuminating – the question of his connection with Glastonbury and whether he was abbot of Westminster. Keynes continues the history of the bishopric to the end of the Anglo-Saxon period. There follows a survey by Barbara Yorke on the Lives of Anglo-Saxon saints, while Rosalind Love contributes a definitive edition of the Life of St Wulfsige with a translation and full notes. This Life was by the prolific hagiographer, Goscelin of St Bertin, who had joined Herman, bishop of Sherborne, and the monastic community in the early 1060s, and who became chaplain to the nuns of Wilton. In the next paper Barker considers the Viking campaigns in southern England during Wulfsige's lifetime, which were recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and provides an excellent map and plates. Teresa Hall traces the history of the conversion of Wessex in the seventh century, the origin of the bishopric of Sherborne and the history of the minster church until its Benedictinisation by Wulfsige. Then, Barker examines the evidence about the estates of the church of Sherborne. Rachel Stockdale follows with a discussion of the very few manuscripts certainly produced at Sherborne and the problem of being certain of the provenance of many others associated in one way or another with Sherborne. They are very few in number but particularly remarkable are the twelfth-century Sherborne cartulary, the fourteenth-century account book, and the beautiful Sherborne missal of c. 1400 – which may, however, have been produced at Glastonbury for Sherborne. Barker returns to the theme of the millennium with discussion of the tenth-century images of the apocalypse, specifically of the mandorla, and their inspiration. Joseph Bettey then gives an excellent, clear account of the dissolution of the abbey (in 1539) and the fate of its estates. The church itself and most of its estates were acquired by the patron, Sir John Horsey. He and succeeding Horseys allowed the church to become ruinous and disposed of most of the estates in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; the family mansion at Clifton Maybrook was demolished – part was later incorporated in Montacute House. The town, however, continued to flourish because of its many trades. The parishioners bought the abbey church from Sir John in 1540; Bettey gives a fascinating account of its history in the sixteenth century and also of Sherborne manor. Next, Barker reverts to the Anglo-Saxon period, discussing Sherborne's estate at Lyme [Abbas] on the west bank of the Lim, opposite Lyme [Regis], an important source of fish and salt and strategically placed for coastal defence. Jim Gibb prints a suggested reconstruction of Sherborne abbey c. 1530 and his own drawing of it (fig. 25). He follows this with a description of the buildings of Sherborne School, 1550–2000, which occupies the abbey precincts, noting their various uses throughout the modern period, again providing a drawing (fig. 26). Barker traces the history of Sherborne in modern times, pointing out the survival of many of the abbey's buildings and of medieval houses in the town. The latter suffered in the nineteenth century from slum clearance and population expansion – a timely reminder in view of the threat of further destruction in the present century. The volume ends with two articles on the Benedictine tradition. Aidan Bellenger, abbot of Downside, analyses the Benedictine Rule, writes of the spirit which inspires its ideals, and of its ability to adapt to local conditions. He gives a brief account of the revival of the English Benedictine congregation on the continent in the early seventeenth century and of the return of some congregations to England in the late eighteenth. He concentrates on the exceptionally numerous religious foundations in Dorset – Sherborne itself being one of the smallest. He then mentions briefly the best-known Benedictine foundations in modern times, Ampleforth in Yorkshire, Douai in Berkshire, and his own abbey of Downside in Somerset, paying tribute to their schools and scholarly traditions – exemplified by the most eminent monastic historian, Dom David Knowles, student, then monk of Downside and subsequently Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge. Esther de Waal ends the volume with a short article pointing out that the wisdom and humanity of St Benedict encapsulated in his rule for a monastic community, has exercised a profound influence on Christian spiritual life from its composition in the sixth century until the present day, and still has much to teach in a materialistic world. Altogether this is a very satisfactory volume of impressively high scholarly standard, combining the erudition of professional academics with that of local historians. All the papers were based on primary sources, whether written or visual. The volume's presentation is impeccable with appropriate plates and sketch maps, all meticulously captioned, full bibliographies and a good index. Simon Keynes writes (p. 53) that ‘One has … to admit that 998 is not exactly a date that rings across the centuries, like 1066.’ Nevertheless, it deserves celebration not least as the occasion for this volume, which rehabilitates the reputation of St Wulfsige, who in modern times has escaped much notice, and assembles abundant information about his church and the town of Sherborne and related subjects.