The Roman frontiers have spawned a vast literature, and one only has to look at the review pages in Britannia to see that this has increased in quantity since the designation of Hadrian's Wall as a World Heritage site in 1987, followed by the addition to the designation of the German Limes (2005) and the Antonine Wall (2008). This varied literature has ranged from academic works, to more popular works, guide books and children's books. It represents a wide range of approaches, and has been of varied quality. The three books reviewed here represent different approaches to the popular presentation of the frontiers in Britain and Germany.

Wolfgang Moschek's Der Limes is a straightforward, well-informed and wide-ranging introduction to the subject written in plain language. Beginning with the Roman attitude to borders, limits (city walls, temple precincts, etc.) and frontiers in Roman culture, he gives a lively overview of Roman frontier policy from the Republic to Trajan. A rapid survey of the frontiers under Hadrian, using Hadrian's travels as a theme, and concentrating on the German Limes and Hadrian's Wall follows. This includes brief sections on daily life, including quotes from the Vindolanda letters and reference to military amphitheatres. Subsequent chapters follow the history of the frontier from the later second to the end of the fourth century. Finally, M. presents a brief survey of the meanings that the Roman frontiers have acquired over the post-Roman centuries. Scholars became increasingly aware of the Limes through the eighteenth and nineteenth century, and it also achieved value as a symbol. An unfamiliar image was the 1938 Limes medal, commemorating work on the defensive Westwall (or Siegfried Line), a phase of the construction of which was called the Limes programme. The institution of the Limes Congress and the World Heritage nominations complete the story. The book is sparsely illustrated with monochrome illustrations, including photographs and reconstructions, and a single map, of the entire frontier. Highlight boxes give relevant quotations, and the subheadings are lively (Dakiens dunkle Wälder – Der Limes porolissensis).

In contrast to M.'s book, Stan Beckensall has produced a charming and personal picture book of Hadrian's Wall. It is an annotated album of his own photographs, collected through decades of engagement with the landscape in which he lives with the addition of images of finds chosen by Robin Birley and Lindsay Allason-Jones. The images are grouped to illustrate aspects of landscape, the structures of the Wall, excavations, finds, and the presentation of the monument. The photographs are mostly good, some from unusual viewpoints, and reflect all seasons, though a few have faded and betray their age. A novel approach, it is perhaps difficult to see the audience at which the book is aimed. It certainly has value as a pictorial souvenir, and would work well as a memoir for those who have explored the Wall.

Finally, Guy de la Bédoyère's guide to Hadrian's Wall was first published in 1998, and has been a useful general introduction and visitor's guide to the Wall. The author's foreword to the 2010 edition, which mentions the Staffordshire Moorlands Pan, found in 2003, is the only revision of the original volume. Despite the huge amount of new information on the Wall that has emerged in the 12 years since 1998, David Breeze's 14th edition of Bruce's Handbook (2006) is the only work cited in the bibliography that postdates 1998. Nothing dates quicker than a guidebook, and no updating has been undertaken. De la B. does not mention the Hadrian's Wall National Trail, opened in 2003. He still warns (97) against attempting to ford the Irthing at Willowford, despite the fact that a new footbridge was built there as part of the National Trail in 2001. Similarly at Wallsend what is visible is still apparently ‘dependent on current state of excavations and consolidation’ (36). The Segedunum Fort, Museum and replica bath-house at Wallsend including the consolidated display of the whole fort plan opened in 2000. The failure to update this guide properly is a real lost opportunity.