This book is a splendidly old-fashioned survey of forty Byzantine historians, both familiar and obscure, from Eusebius to Theophylact Simocatta; the term itself is broadly interpreted, incorporating church and secular historians, as well as chroniclers, including some who wrote in Latin. Ammianus Marcellinus and Marcellinus comes thus find a place in the work, and there is some discussion of Jerome; Eutropius, Aurelius Victor and Jordanes, as well as Syriac authors, such as John of Ephesus, are not considered. Treadgold assesses the lives, works and the degree of success that each historian enjoyed. He discusses both well-known authors, such as Procopius and Evagrius, and others, whose works survive often only in a handful of fragments, such as Hesychius or Peter the Patrician. In all cases he wrings as much as he can from their works to reconstruct their lives and careers, concluding that in many cases they were frustrated, embittered men (p. 360), to the point that he even finds evidence to suggest that both Procopius and his successor Agathias were unhappily married (pp. 188, 281). Such portraits are vivid and intriguing, as are his reconstructions of the book structures of the fragmentary works, or even of earlier versions of surviving works. On occasion, however, the evidence is pushed beyond the limits, for example in his speculation about earlier possible book arrangements of Procopius' Wars (pp. 185–7), and perhaps more strikingly in the remarkably prominent role assigned to the chronicler Eustathius of Epiphania: this shadowy figure emerges as one of the most important historians of the volume, whose work was adapted and taken over in large measure by both John Malalas and John of Antioch (p. 370). Treadgold offers interesting arguments to support his case, but one suspects that such a novel view ought to be aired in a detailed article rather than in a manual clearly aimed at undergraduates. While footnotes are sparse, as befits a general work, it is evident that Treadgold has read widely in the field. Nevertheless, some important gaps must be noted: on the fifth-century church historians, the books of H. Leppin (1996) and P. van Nuffelen (2004) are nowhere cited, nor is the new Sources Chrétiennes edition of Socrates by P. Maraval. On Procopius, A. Kaldellis's revisionist work is cited but quickly dismissed; important recent books or articles by K. Adshead, D. Brodka, C. Pazdernik and J. Signes Codoñer are omitted entirely, as is Antiquité tardive viii (2000), an issue devoted to the Buildings. J. Schamp's new edition and translation of John Lydus' De magistratibus (2006) probably appeared too late to be taken into account, but T. F. Carney's translation and commentary (1971) still merit mention. Two recent important French volumes devoted to Malalas, edited by J. Beaucamp (2004–6), are not taken into account. While P. Amidon's translation of Philostorgius' work appeared in 2007, thus too late to be cited, E. Argov's important article on the historian in Athenaeum lxxxix (2001) finds no mention. John of Antioch's chronicle is assigned, probably erroneously, to the early seventh century (pp. 311–16): it is necessary now to take into account the work of S. Mariev (in BZ ic [2006], 535–49), who is preparing an edition and English translation. Perhaps the most surprising omission is that of the book's most obvious competitor, D. Rohrbacher's The historians of late antiquity (2002). Electrum xiii (2007), edited by D. Brodka and M. Stachura, was devoted to late antique historiography, but of course appeared too late to be taken into account. Despite these gaps, and occasional assertions that require further justification (for example that Procopius' Secret history circulated immediately after Justinian's death, p. 278), this volume will be the first point of reference for all those interested in late Roman and early Byzantine historiography. It is equipped with useful maps and excellent indices and bibliographies, including a guide to where one can find English translations of the works discussed.