Study of the fourteenth-century French poet-composer Guillaume de Machaut – who served both sacred and secular masters as canon of Reims and secretary to the king of Bohemia, amongst other prestigious roles – is undergoing something of a renaissance. A companion to Guillaume de Machaut therefore comes at a timely juncture, as it coincides with the culmination of major research projects, including an examination of Machaut's material authority, and the production of a complete edition of his works. Increasingly, the world of Machaut studies is interdisciplinary and engaged with the possibilities of digital research; this volume reflects and adds to this trend, through the diverse but complementary essays selected for inclusion. Deborah McGrady and Jennifer Bain's clear introduction outlines three main aims: to provide fresh perspectives on both established research and new strands of enquiry; to complement the multifaceted nature of Machaut's output with multi-disciplinary scholarship; and to give space to little explored aspects of Machaut's corpus and context. These aims are marshalled under five subsections, the first of which contextualises Machaut against the backdrop of both his contemporary milieu and the current body of academic investigation. Helen Swift's excellent re-examination of the poetic I and Anne-Hélène Miller's analysis of Machaut as a key forerunner of the humanist movement are followed by Elizabeth Eva Leach's challenge to the traditional scholarly fault line between textual and musical studies, which has hitherto obscured the fundamental interconnection between Machaut's literary and musical creation. Leach's essay segues appropriately into section ii, which features two pairs of essays, each addressing a particular facet of Machaut's output from contrasting perspectives. This reflexive structure is admirably exploited by Jacqueline Cerquiglini-Toulet and Jennifer Bain's readings of an enigmatic rondeau, and by the discussion of the debate tradition by Emma Cayley and Benjamin Albritton, employing alternately close reading and a broader situating. In the next two sections the book revisits the traditional divide of text and music, but in an innovative fashion – asking contributors to ‘confront received notions from their individual fields’. In particular, Yolanda Plumley's exploration of self-citation reveals the virtuosity inherent in Machaut's redeployment of his own material, while R. Barton Palmer's insight into the Confort d'ami shows us a Machaut who openly plays with discontinuities engendered by his citational choices, which presage literary modernity. In the final section the Companion reflects upon Machaut's reception, ranging from his immediate contemporaries to his modern audience. Especially fascinating is Kirsten Yri's examination of recordings of the Messe de Notre Dame and their role in establishing Machaut's identity within our culture. This volume succeeds unequivocally in meeting its stated aims, through the quality of the individual essays and its well-conceived architecture. It represents a significant contribution to the burgeoning field of Machaut scholarship. Moreover, it may contribute to making Machaut a more accessible figure within university curricula. It will be informative and refreshing reading for all those whose interests lie in the world of late medieval music and poetry.