Here is a scholarly work which is a pleasure to read from beginning to end. By focusing his attention on two royal monasteries in the thirteenth century – the one in England, the other in France – William Chester Jordan has been able to include, within the confines of a comparative study, a broader narrative of two rival kingdoms under Henry iii and Louis ix and their two sons and successors. In so doing he has introduced a fresh perspective from which to view the complex and constantly shifting relations between the monarchs, often encouraged or thwarted by other rulers or by their power-hungry subjects. He approaches his task by examining the careers of two contemporary abbots of these Benedictine establishments both of which were the chosen resting place of a succession of royal forbears. Richard de Ware of Westminster and Mathieu de Vendôme of Saint-Denys were both elected abbots of their respective monasteries in 1258 and were to continue in office for the next quarter-century. During these years both men were called by their monarchs to become closely involved in affairs of state at home and abroad on behalf of their governments, Mathieu, for example, as coregent during Louis ix's last crusade and Richard as treasurer for Edward i in the early 1280s. At the same time the two abbots were actively concerned to maintain and advance the material prosperity and the prestige and ascendancy of their abbeys. Displaying an enviable command of the English and French primary sources as well as the relevant chronicles, Jordan deals with both aspects of the abbots' careers in their dual roles as two of the principal players on the political and ecclesiastical stage of their time. It is refreshing to revisit a familiar scene from a different viewpoint, in this case one that highlights and follows the course of action taken by two important but less familiar figures. The inclusion of genealogical tables for the English and French royal houses would have helped to eliminate the confusion arising from the appearance of several people sharing the same Christian names. Unfortunately, the index of names and places does little to alleviate the problem because it is far from complete. For example, Isabelle of Aragon and Marie of Brabant, the wives of Philip iii, Margaret, daughter of Henry iii and Eleanor of Castile, wife of Edward i, all appear in the text but are absent from the index; again, to the three page references provided for Charles of Anjou in the index at least four others should be added. A number of place names have been similarly omitted: Argenteuil, Poissy, Bath, Bury (St Edmunds) are only a few among those which are missing.