Andrew Louth's Greek East and Latin West is a remarkable book. The series to which it contributes offers perspectives on Christian history which are informed by Orthodox perspectives and therefore by sustained attention to the experiences and records of the Christian East. In that way, the series as a whole complements countless otherwise comparable surveys that are available in English, which tend to leave Greek behind shortly after making reference to the Council of Chalcedon in ad 451 or – what may be subtly worse – to reserve for a separate volume consideration of all forms of Christianity not native to Western Europe. In terms of the series itself, Louth's book bridges a chasm between the golden age of patristic Christianity (vol. 2) and the era of accelerated alienation between the Latin and the Greek worlds that culminated with the fall of Constantinople (vol. 4). This period, the early Middle Ages, is difficult for any approach, given the diverse and often competing groups who rose to prominence during it. It is therefore a testament to Louth's prodigious knowledge and clear thinking that he has produced an overview of that era which is reliable, informative and positively enjoyable to read.

The successful integration of so much information is possible, I think, because Louth's perspective is not limited by partisan politics. For example, his account of the Carolingians does not simply vilify them as upstart competitors to the emperors (or indeed the empress) in Constantinople. Rather, Louth presents (e.g.) the Carolingian rejection of the Greek cult of icons intelligibly and without condescension. Theodulf of Orléans therefore emerges (pp. 88–91) as a serious theologian working in a meaningful context. Similarly, Louth's presentation of Symeon the New Theologian (pp. 322–33) notes Symeon's sometimes self-defeating and antagonistic behaviour, without compensating by gilding the saint's reputation. The resulting history is much richer than it would have been had it simply rehearsed old polemics. Moreover, Louth's account is not limited to ecclesiastical affairs and incorporates multiple ethnic and political groups whose ambitions and enterprises impacted upon Christian history: the Vikings, the Normans, the Bulgarians and the Turks, amongst many others.

This attention to social, military and theological trends enriches Louth's evaluation of the increasing isolation of particular churches. While interpreting a period of tension ‘between aspirations after independence and the ideal of a united, or even single, Christendom’ (p. 183), Louth avoids facile claims. For that reason, it may be that his book is no simple history of ‘the Church’. But it is none the worse for that. In his introductory comments, Louth notes that the series has been relaunched after the considerable hiatus which followed the untimely death of its founding editor, Fr John Meyendorff; he also states that he has taken up editorial responsibilities for the series and announces the titles of the two books which will bring it to completion. If those volumes carry forward in the manner of this volume, the series will be a monument to scholarship.