When Rudyard Kipling lamented that “East is East, and West is West, and ne'er the twain shall meet,” he probably did not have the theological and cultural conflict of Eastern and Western Christianity in mind, but the sentiment expressed in the longer form of the quote (“Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat”) adeptly captures the feelings of many a historian and ecumenist. But perhaps because of this historic antagonism, the need for Orthodox Christians to understand and even appropriate the West, given the surge of Orthodox migrants over the past century and conversion of native Westerners to Eastern Christianity, is greater than at any point in the past. From that impulse comes the triennial conference series on the East-West Schism. The present volume is the result of papers delivered at the 2010 edition of that conference series.

The selections in the volume cover a variety of different eras, ranging from the tenth century to the modern day, and a variety of subjects centered around the theme of how Eastern Christians have and continue to understand or misunderstand their Western co-religionists. The state of the question is admirably set in the chapter by Demacopoulos and Papnikolaou, which introduces the reader to the problem constructing a view of the West in modern Orthodox Christianity, in no small part because so many Orthodox themselves now live in “the West” or at least in countries historically founded by persons from Western Europe. The authors do not propose how Orthodox Christians might better identify “the Other” in opposition to their own traditions, and that is part of the point: that older categories are no longer as useful as they were even a century ago.

Though all of the contributions to this volume are excellent, there are several which deserve special recognition. Among these is the overview of the current state of Roman Catholic and Orthodox ecumenical relations by Robert Taft. Much of the chapter is centered on the past wrong of each side against the other. Here, Taft is adamant and unflinching in his review of Catholic sins against the Orthodox, and is equally ready to point out that Orthodox Christians have similar problems with their own behavior, concluding that what both sides need is a more realistic and less hagiographic reading of their histories. Equally valuable is Kalaitzidis’ chapter on John Romanides and Christos Yannaras. Romanides’ hermeneutical approach to Christian history has made such a significant impact on the interpretation of Orthodox history that those unfamiliar with his approach will find a capable introduction to Romanides’ general theories and their problems. Readers will also want to review Lucian Turcesu's survey of the Russian and Romanian Orthodox Churches in the post-Communist era and how they have adapted to greater Western political and cultural influence.

One area where this particular volume could be supplemented would be in the area of Western Rite Orthodoxy, which seems to be the ultimate Orthodox construction of an idealized West. Robert Taft does mention Western Rite Orthodoxy in very unflattering terms (33), and there could have been a place for mentioning Russian studies of Western liturgy in the nineteenth century in Vera Shevzov's chapter, but for the most part the topic was passed over. Perhaps this stems from the date of the conference, which was held in 2010 and before many more recent studies of the topic were published. Even so, it would be interesting to see how Western Rite Orthodoxy could have informed the overall discussion presented in this volume.

This singular oversight notwithstanding, there is much in Orthodox Constructions of the West that will benefit readers. It's major strengths, particularly for readers of Church History, will undoubtedly be the historical framing that many of the chapters provide, but there is also much which is illuminating in the chapters covering specific theological topics or authors; the chapter on Aquinas and his reception in the East immediately comes to mind in this context. Though there have been several collected volumes which look at the role of Orthodoxy in the West over the last decade, this volume's focus on Orthodox negotiation of the West commends itself to those who seek a deeper understanding of how Orthodoxy is influenced by Western society.