The cult of St Edmund in medieval East Anglia differs from similar historiography surrounding saints’ cults in that in provides a longitudinal study of an Anglo-Saxon royal saint, within a specific geographical location, from the inception of the cult to the Dissolution. Edmund has been the subject of edited collections and articles, and The miracles of St Edmund by Herman the Archdeacon and Goscelin of Saint-Bertin have also recently been edited with side-by-side translation as an Oxford Medieval Texts volume by Tom Licence. However, this is the first full-length monograph dedicated to the cult of St Edmund. It uses a wide range of approaches to explore changing attitudes towards and representations of Edmund and his cult. There is a strong emphasis throughout on the importance of Bury as the centre of the cult and the role played by the abbey in the construction and reception of Edmund's saintly identity.

Structurally, the book is organised into eleven chapters, divided into three sections. In part i, ‘Texts and Contexts: the Legend of St Edmund’, Pinner discusses the evolving hagiographic tradition of Edmund. Abbo of Fleury's Passio Sancti Eadmundi and Herman, Osbert and Samson's De miraculis Sancti Eadmundi are examined in detail to show that from the beginning Edmund was regarded as an important saint both nationally and internationally, yet in the end his saintly identity was founded upon his regional origins.

The Pierpont Morgan Library's ms M.736 contains both the life and miracles of Edmund in one manuscript and is illustrated by a series of miniatures, forming an independent narrative cycle of Edmund's life, passion and posthumous miracles. Pinner rightly highlights the point that the regional identity noticeable in Abbo's Passio is absent from the Morgan miniatures; the artist has located the events of Edmund's life and death in a broader national context, thus suggesting that his cult is universally significant. The inclusion of full colour illustrated examples is beneficial here and Pinner's analysis of the Morgan miniatures sheds fresh light on the numerous contexts in which Edmund and his cult would have been understood.

The final part of the first section discusses how the hagiographic tradition was elaborated upon through other sources such as Geoffrey of Wells's De infantia Sancti Eadmundi and the Anglo-Norman verse Lives of Edmund. It traces changes in how Edmund's saintly identity was reflected in miracle collections; in earlier contexts saints are depicted as the patrons and protectors of the religious personnel with whom they are associated, yet as the need for protective intervention reduced, the number of curative miracles increased and became a dominant feature of the collections. Pinner successfully demonstrates how Edmund's cult responds to broader developments in the perception and construction of sanctity.

Part ii, ‘Relics, Shrines and Pilgrimage: Encountering St Edmund at Bury’, begins by highlighting the importance of Edmund's physical remains to his saintly identity; Edmund was unafraid to punish those who mistreated his relics. It uses apt examples from the chronicle evidence, such as an account in a version of De miraculis, attributed to Abbot Samson. An incident is described where Abbot Leofstan, undertaking an inspection of Edmund's remains, intended to ascertain whether the corpse was intact and so commanded another monk, Thurstan, to take hold of Edmund's feet whilst the abbot grasped the head and they pulled in opposite directions. The corpse remained whole but Edmund was incensed by this disrespectful treatment and in revenge struck Abbot Leofstan with a temporary blindness and dumbness, and a permanent withering of both hands.

The section continues with a discussion concerning the nature of Edmund's shrine. This is a useful addition to the volume, but it would have been enhanced if an image of a depiction of the shrine could have been included. Although Pinner rightly points out that shrine images may not have been accurate artistic representations, it would have been helpful to have had some visual stimulus since the purpose of this section is to discuss encountering Edmund at the shrine. Another useful addition would have been a plan of the abbey, indicating the position of the shrine and the pilgrimage route.

Part iii, ‘Beyond Bury: Dissemination and Appropriation’, investigates the wider dissemination of Edmund's influence throughout outlying areas of East Anglia. It considers the topography of Edmund's sanctity through an exploration of sites across the region that were associated with him, such as Snettisham, a village near the site of Edmund's arrival in East Anglia at Hunstanton, in addition to miracles that occurred outside Bury. Pinner explores the role of various images of Edmund in the region's churches. For example, his image appeared on the chancel screen at St Catherine's church in Ludham paired with that of Henry vi; this shows how his image was appropriated for fifteenth-century political propaganda purposes. Edmund's presence in sermon manuals and collections of saints’ Lives originating from outside East Anglia is also reflected upon. This survey of the material is well presented and reinforces the conclusion that the cult of St Edmund retained an important status, which maintained its significance into the later medieval period.

It is clear that the value of this volume lies in its interdisciplinary approach, using a combination of literary, art-historical and quantitative methods of analysis on a range of texts and images that are often considered in isolation from one another. From this standpoint, Pinner has brought fresh insights not only into the complex nature of Edmund's saintly identity but also the development and propagation of the cult of a key Anglo-Saxon saint whose legacy continued well beyond his life and his cult site.