The present volume is the latest of the Blackwell Bible Commentaries, a series which derives its raison d'être from the fact that how a particular biblical book is interpreted is often as historically significant as the original text. In a lively introductory essay, Riches sets out some of the procedures of the book. In terms of method, he is considerably indebted to Hans Robert Jauss and his understanding of Literaturgeschichte; the present volume is almost exclusively concerned with the literary influence of Galatians, particularly in commentaries on the letter. Riches emphasises, however, that an analysis of the history of interpretation is not something other than an account of the text itself; this book is itself, in an important sense, a commentary on the text: ‘this whole enterprise is itself an attempt to understand Galatians, to discover what it is about the text which can inspire so many and such rich readings, and which can bring new life into communities in greatly different situations’ (p. 65). Riches provides brief sketches too of the protagonists in the historical drama he is staging: Marcion, Augustine, John Chrysostom, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Perkins, Baur and Lightfoot, with attention, too, to more recent scholarship on Galatians. In general the volume proceeds section by section through Galatians, describing and analysing how these readers exploit certain features of the letter. Other interpreters are also given due recognition (for example the Council of Trent; Hilgenfeld), and one of the most intriguing discussions is that of the use of Galatians ii. 20 by some Zen Buddhist interpreters (pp. 140–3); Bultmann, Sanders, Dunn and Martyn (and, at some important junctures, Daniel Boyarin) also feature as the main contemporary figures. This book is a fascinating contribution to the series, and will prove useful both to New Testament scholars and to historians of various kinds. As a reference work it is an invaluable treasure trove of carefully selected interpretations, but more important is the overall picture that it paints of the extensive dialogue about Galatians, and the questions which the book raises about the relationship between the text and its readers.