Thomas Becket, bishop and martyr, is universally known, but the details of his life, death and subsequent veneration, as well as the later reception of his cult are, as Slocum argues in this book, heavily mediated through the voices and circumstances of the historians who studied them, beginning with the first accounts of the martyrdom, ranging through hagiographical material and polemic from the time of the English Reformation, to more recent voices from the discourse of medievalism and gender studies. Slocum is probably the greatest living scholar of Becket's cult, and her familiarity with the landscape of Becket historiography is impressive. The reader is guided through the book with ease. The volume is divided into four parts in historical order. Part i introduces the Latin and vernacular biographies, correspondence, liturgical material and hagiographical evidence that set the scene for the discussions that follow. Part ii addresses the vilification of Becket by Henry viii and Thomas Cromwell and the resulting denigration of the cult, as well as the defiant Catholic response. In part iii Slocum explores the less well-known approaches to Becket from David Hume, Edmund Burke and the rationalist, anti-clerical perspectives of the eighteenth century, as well as the extensive and widespread publication of medieval source material in nineteenth-century England. Part iv presents more modern work, both on the legal questions underpinning Becket's quarrel with the king and, more recently, discussions about his sexuality and chastity. Ultimately, Becket is revealed to be a ‘kaleidoscopic personality’; for the ‘colors and shapes assigned to his character’ are ever-shifting (p. 309), as they have been subject to fresh interpretations in each generation. Anyone interested in any aspect of Thomas Becket's life or afterlife, and those interested in English historiography in general, will enjoy and appreciate Slocum's subtle and informed discussion of the questions and arguments which have occupied the discourse for over eight hundred years.