One of the earliest empires to ravage the Middle East, the first-millennium BC Assyrian Empire, continues to draw interest from archaeologists, historians and philologists after a century and a half of research. With its imperial core in northern Iraq off-limits to foreign archaeological teams in the latter decades of the twentieth century, a generation of scholars turned their attention to Assyria's peripheries in countries where field research was permissible. Consequently, evidence for how the empire conquered, managed or neglected its provinces is now abundant from different corners of the Middle East. Scholars long ago dismissed their first impression that the empire employed similar strategies of dominance throughout its conquered lands. The challenge, therefore, shifted to the identification and analysis of these strategies in the fragmentary written and archaeological records.

This volume of studies celebrates Cambridge University's contributions to the investigation of Assyria, specifically how the empire's expansion influenced societies living in its various provinces. The book is divided into seven parts, the first of which contains two orienting chapters describing the intellectual history of Assyria's exploration (MacGinnis; Stone). Part 2 contains seven chapters that explore questions that cut across peripheries, examining evidence for shared architectural elements (pebble mosaics) and material culture (e.g. Assyrian palace ware) that demonstrate Assyria's material influence on its peripheries. Among the more successful chapters is Rosenzweig's wide-ranging discussion of Assyria's impact on the environment in key areas where the empire sought to intensify agricultural production.

The volume's remaining five parts are organised by geography and present short, data-rich studies based on the projects of different research teams. Part 3 features research from the ‘core’ provinces, areas surrounding the Assyrian capital cities in northern Iraq, while Part 4 explores evidence from settlements in eastern Syria. Case studies from the Levant make up Part 5, and studies from Assyria's northern periphery (southern Anatolia) are reported in Part 6. Three short chapters in the final section, Part 7, describe research from western Iran. Overall, the volume is well illustrated with the sharp line-art and crisp colour images that readers have come to expect from the McDonald Institute Monographs series.

Readers will not find deep meditations in this book exploring how one should conceive of the ways empires managed their peripheries. There are no lengthy critiques of Wallerstein-esque core-periphery models or thoughtful reflections on post-colonial theory; nor are there any deep engagements with the global archaeological literature. The absence of such moments that would connect the volume to a broader audience is certainly a shortcoming. The editors, however, can almost be excused if one acknowledges the specificity of their mission to present current and rigorous evidence-based research. This volume is therefore a book by Near Eastern archaeologists for Near Eastern archaeologists.

For the non-specialist, this volume is most helpful for demonstrating the analytical techniques one can use to investigate imperial peripheries, wherever they may be found and however they may be defined. Authors in this volume draw on landscape survey data, architectural blueprints, material culture, remotely sensed satellite imagery, written sources, geomagnetic survey data, hydrological modelling and more to support their arguments. Yet despite the appropriateness of these techniques, most projects focus their analysis on monumental and public forms of evidence. The design elements of palaces, temples, fortifications and irrigation canals show signals of Assyria's ability to influence the periphery's political class and to promote their economic needs. Assyrian and Assyrianising forms of material culture (e.g. Assyrian palace ware, ivories, glazed pottery) are singled out to demonstrate the exchange of luxury goods or the influence of Assyrian styles on local crafts.

For readers who desire to understand how Assyrian imperialism did or did not transform, for instance, household organisation and production routines in its peripheries, they will find the subject only lightly addressed in a handful of chapters (e.g. Greenfield), even though projects have documented domestic contexts in their research, as mentioned in passing or revealed in their site maps. If one wishes to evaluate the extent to which Assyrian imperialism penetrated everyday life in the empire's peripheries, then this resolution of analysis is essential. While this book demonstrates many successes, and is required reading for all scholars of ancient Assyria, a careful appraisal reveals exciting opportunities for future research developments.