This collection of ten papers, with an introduction by Conor Kostick and an afterword from Bernard Hamilton, is published under the aegis of the Centre for Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies at Trinity College, Dublin. The purpose is to foster an interaction between historians and scholars working in Cultural Studies, but, as Conor Kostick modestly admits, the papers published here are more in the line of straightforward historical essays that reveal an interest in culture. The contributors are an interesting mix of established scholars and young researchers. John France surveys warfare in the Mediterranean region in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Yehoshua Frenkel asks how far ideas of jihad were pursued in practice by the Muslim rulers. Chris Wright, in a highly intelligent analysis, traces the way in which the crusades contributed to a marginalisation of Byzantium and to a loss of confidence among the Greeks themselves. Natasha Hodgson charts marriage alliances between Latins and Cilician Armenians. Alan Murray raises interesting questions about consciousness of national identity in crusade armies. Sini Kangas, in a very original paper, demonstrates that three western Lives of Muhammad, written between 1030 and 1150, show some knowledge of Islamic tradition. Léan ní Chléirigh discusses different attitudes towards the Greeks evidenced in the histories of Guibert of Nogent and Fulcher of Chartres. Susan Edgington summarises the state of research on medicine in crusade armies and in the Latin East and its relationship to oriental practice and draws attention to the profound change in thinking that has occurred in the last thirty years. Jürgen Krüger puts forward ideas for a programme of research on the question of how far the rebuilding of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the twelfth century incorporated both eastern and western elements. Yvonne Friedman discusses treaties with Muslims and the actual techniques of diplomacy in the Latin East.