With the field of Late Antiquity having come into the full focus of research some decades ago, recent years have seen the publication of a number of overview volumes on the centuries between the end of the later Roman empire and the medieval period, spanning the fourth to the eighth centuries. The period has received much interest for the discussion of continuity and rupture, of decline or transformation. Approaches have become quite differentiated in the last decades. With magisterial volumes on the market (e.g. G. Halsall, Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376–568 [2007] and C. Wickham, Framing the early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean 400–800 [2005] – C. lists more on pp. 5–6), it is not easy to break through with new views. However, C. is a well established researcher in the field, having worked on numerous projects and publications (e.g. From Constantine to Charlemagne: an Archaeology of Italy ad 300–800 [2006], Landscapes of Change: Rural evolutions in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages [2004] and C. & S.T. Loseby [edd.] Towns in Transition: Urban Evolution in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages [1996], to name just a few). His expertise promises a welcome addition to the field, especially because he takes an approach that is underrepresented in most general volumes, emphasising historical sources. As its subtitle says, C.'s monograph is written from an archaeological perspective.

The book is divided into eight chapters framed by a short introduction and conclusion. In the first chapter, C. goes back to the second century to trace the roots of many of the later conflicts in Rome's relations with external parties. He then provides a historical overview from the third to the fifth centuries, outlining the problems within the Roman empire and in its external relations. Archaeology plays a minor role in this chapter, with C. merely indicating its potential as an alternative data source. The next two chapters take on one of the important themes for the period: the military. C. starts with a predominantly historical discussion, examining sources like Vegetius and the Notitia dignitatum, and giving an overview of Diocletian's military reforms. This is a necessary outline for the discussion of a set of problems, for example that although historical sources tell us much about federates serving as part of the Roman army or as quasi-independent units, archaeologically these are hard to identify, as well as the otherwise well attested fabricae, the production centres for weapons and armour. C. gives a careful discussion of the problems involved in archaeological interpretation combined with historical material without sacrificing complexity for easy interpretations.

The archaeology really starts in the third chapter, the second part of the military discussion that focusses on the defensive systems. As C. rightly states, these were of great importance, but are rather neglected in the sources. C. shows how along the Danube, and especially its middle part (one of the hotspots of the later Roman empire from a defensive point of view), archaeology can trace the development of the installations from being rather volatile to becoming properly and universally ‘Roman’ in the second century and later becoming more local again in the finds and structures. For the border region of Hadrian's Wall, C. points to the discrepancy between the great number of upheavals and campaigns transmitted in the sources, and the difficulty of detecting larger destructions archaeologically in Northern England. C. explains this as evidence for the supposedly small number of assailants, and as an indication for a tactic of avoiding the larger fortifications. Also around Hadrian's Wall, many military bases become ‘localised’, with more local material culture and annexed houses added in later phases in simple style. This chapter, which also discusses the defensive system for Italy and town walls in general, has much to offer on the archaeology and shows the strength of the discipline in providing information not found in the historical sources.

The next two chapters, dealing with the development of cities, present dense descriptions of the available evidence. In Chapter 4, ‘Towns and Urban Society in the Late Empire’, C. takes on seven examples ranging all over the western half of the Roman empire to present the bandwidth of development. In the following chapter, C. goes on to discuss the three Italian capitals Rome, Milan and Ravenna and works out the differences between them that are visible in their specific topographies. Chapter 6, ‘Pagans and Christians in the Late Roman West’, again shows the impact of archaeology as a counterbalance to written sources, especially when C. discusses the process of Christianisation in some cities and in rural contexts, pointing out the longevity of ‘pagan’ cults and the importance of euergetism from Christian patrons that are mirrored in the material finds. In regions with fewer sources, like Noricum and Britain, archaeology holds an even greater importance. The seventh chapter deals with economy and infrastructure. Both areas are strong fields of archaeology, but with only 19 pages, this chapter is unfortunately quite short. Although C.'s description is dense as always, touching on many aspects and on the most important ones, one would have liked to know more about these important thematic areas. C. closes with a chapter that discusses three different contexts of development, dividing them between the provinces that had been abandoned before the last Roman emperor was deposed, provinces that had been militarily lost before that date, and provinces in which Roman control only ceased after 476. As could be expected from earlier discussions, core regions like Italy showed a large degree of continuity, whereas at the fringes, new groups came to seize power in the vacuum, or profited from the loss of central control.

The strongest parts of the book, from an archaeological point of view, are the discussions of the military and city development from the late Roman to the early Medieval period. Much research has been done, especially on the latter, and it is a huge accomplishment to weave the different strings together. To write a book like this is not an easy task. Targeted at a broad audience, C. has to give a thorough outline of the historical development and the most important questions concerning the period, which takes up a sizeable part of a book that is, with 231 pages of main text, much shorter than others in the field, and more a starting point for many of the academic questions touched. Even though C. concentrates on the western half of the empire, the regional span covered is enormous. There is a particular focus on Britain, the Danube regions and on Italy, which are relatively well researched and published from an archaeological point of view. In general though, C. is determined to cover all of the western Mediterranean and Europe, with examples from Gaul, Germany, Spain and North Africa. It is unavoidable in a book like this to find some minor flaws (for example in the introductory chapter on North Africa), however, overall this is a well researched and thoughtful book, as is to be expected from a scholar of C.'s standing. C. poses many questions, many of which have to remain unanswered. He succeeds in presenting the divergent data without simplifying the complexity of possible interpretations, discussing not only the possibilities but also the limits of the combination of historical and archaeological material. Carefully and critically done, the combination provides a much deeper understanding of the period.