The volume collects 26 contributions of leading scholars that cover a wide range of Aristotelian themes, organised in seven main parts. The primary focus is on the philosophical exegesis of Aristotle's thought. In addition, certain attention is paid to later developments of Aristotelianism in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.

In the first chapter, S. summarises the scarce reliable information on Aristotle's life, and concisely introduces the delicate issues concerning the history of the text and its transmission. The other two essays in the first part are about Aristotle's relationship with previous philosophers. E. Hussey carries out an especially balanced and insightful examination of Aristotle's attitude towards Presocratic natural philosophy, and R. Bolton traces back the Platonic roots of Aristotle's conception of science as knowledge of essences.

The chapters in the last part, ‘After Aristotle’, explore the influence of Aristotle's thought in three distinct groups and periods: the Neoplatonic commentators, Arabic philosophy, and the thought of the European Middle Ages and Renaissance. I found of particular interest R. Pasnau's suggestion that the apparent agreement of all Scholastic philosophers on some Aristotelian tenets (such as hylomorphism and the commitment to prime matter) is little more than verbal and that, due to the very different ways in which Scholastics understood these doctrines, there is virtually no substantial philosophical theory that is shared by all of them.

The division of the central parts of the book mirrors the traditional organisation of Aristotle's works: the Organon (Part 2, ‘The Framework of Philosophy: Tools and Methods’), the physical writings (Part 3, ‘Explanation and Nature’), the Metaphysics (Part 4, ‘Being and Beings’), practical philosophy (Part 5, ‘Ethics and Politics’) and ‘productive’ disciplines (Part 6, ‘Rhetoric and the Arts’).

Most of the contributions select one broad field – or set of questions – that is explicitly addressed by Aristotle in his writings, introduce a choice of the most formidable challenges it poses to interpreters, and propose original solutions for these difficulties. The problems are mostly notorious ones, that have long been the object of lively debate within Aristotle scholarship. Though the authors pay due attention to these discussions in their footnotes, secondary literature remains in the background of the majority (but not all) of the chapters.

P. Studtmann develops a correct analysis of the difficulties encountered by current interpretations of Aristotelian categories, focusing in particular on the justification for Aristotle's choice of categories, and on the possible tensions between the categorical framework and hylomorphism. In order to solve these difficulties, he proposes to revive a medieval line of interpretation that postulated a kind of systematic connection between the division into categories and the theory of matter and form, drawing on Aquinas's suggestion that ‘the category of quantity flows from matter’, and that ‘the category of quality flows from form’. However, the fact that Studtmann does not attempt a precise characterisation of the ‘flowing from’ relation, and that he does not explain how this approach could be generalised to categories other than quantity and quality, make it difficult to evaluate his proposal.

S. Menn provides a persuasive reconstruction of Aristotle's thought about the gods. The interest of the article is twofold. First, Menn defends the non-trivial claim that, besides being a dubious postulate required by an outdated astronomical theory, Aristotle's theory of the divine intellects is meant to satisfy religious and ethical aspirations. In his view, it can be seen as a further step in the process of ‘refinement’ of the traditional conception of the gods, which had been initiated by the Presocratics and by Plato. Second, he carefully examines the complex way in which Aristotle proves the existence and the nature of the godly intellects, putting together arguments from the Physics, the Metaphysics and the De Anima.

In his chapter on the Rhetoric, C. Rapp argues that, for Aristotle, the goal of rhetoric is to make people believe in propositions they do not yet hold (as opposed to educating the audience, or improving its character). Accordingly, the central tool of the rhetorician is an argument that shows that some new propositions follow from other propositions the audience already accepts. The non-argumentative means of persuasion mentioned by Aristotle should not be seen as ‘irrational’. Rather their aim is to back up rational argument when this is not sufficient to convince the audience.

The volume does not have a comprehensive final bibliography. A reference list is appended to each individual chapter. In addition, the ‘General Bibliography’ redirects the reader towards online bibliographies, and lists some translations of Aristotle's works, a few books about Aristotle's philosophy as a whole, and the articles of the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy that deal with Aristotle. This selection is perhaps too restricted. In particular the ‘Translations’ sections list only English translations. And apart from J. Barnes's edition of The Complete Works of Aristotle (1984), and an anthology of selected Aristotelian texts, it only includes volumes of the Clarendon Aristotle Series. The first choice represents an unnecessary limitation for a book that is likely to meet an international public with varying linguistic skills. The second one is unfortunate given that the series does not cover all important Aristotelian texts, and given that other valuable translations have appeared.

The volume is not meant as an introduction to Aristotle, and it does not aim to develop a global interpretation of his thought. In this last respect, a comparison with G. Fine's The Oxford Handbook of Plato (2008) is significant. Although the character of the individual contributions is similar between the two books, the Handbook of Plato opens with a dense introduction by the editor, which explains the general plan of the work and comments on each essay, stressing its relevance for the project as a whole. The Handbook of Aristotle, by contrast, has only a two-page preface, and looks more a collection of essays on disparate topics than an attempt at unitary interpretation.

A gain in scope, however, compensates for this lack of unity. The work succeeds remarkably well in providing a vast panorama of the heterogeneous issues that occupied Aristotle and currently occupy Aristotle scholars. The quality of the contributions is high. And while the bulk of the volume and the degree of sophistication of some contributions risk making it intimidating for beginners, it will prove an invaluable tool for readers already acquainted with ancient philosophy, who wish to familiarise themselves with the interpretative difficulties connected with a particular Aristotelian theme. The many challenging views set out by the contributors are likely to stimulate reflection and debate.