The association of high crosses with Cornwall is not that well known in the canonical art historical circles. They are more commonly linked with Ireland, Scotland, France, and other regions of England, so this Ancient and High Crosses of Cornwall offers a new introduction to the subject. The book is attractively priced and nicely produced but, dealing with a relatively unknown subject, falls between two stools in its attempt to adopt a general approach to what could have been a serious topic. There is some attempt to treat the subject in depth, but it is not consistent. Instead, it is primarily a catalogue of these works, which date from around the ninth century to circa 1300 and covers over one hundred medieval crosses in Cornwall in the south west of Britain. The first forty or so pages provide a series of general background themes, including a historical overview, inscriptions, various groupings, dating, function and antiquarian studies, all of which are dealt with in a few pages each. No footnotes are provided in this section of the study, and the text falls between original research and popular methodology. The inclination is towards the former and the general audience, which is the target of the work. The book is very much a focused examination of what it sets out to do: to be a field book to accompany the visitor. The use of external comparanda is by and large excluded.

The authors deal with the corpus, which is the core of the book from an archaeological perspective, and the art historical angle is dealt with only tangentially. This is almost entirely absent, and iconography is not mentioned! It would, for example, have been interesting to have seen how representations of the crucifixion were carried out over time, but that is not covered. The second section deals with Cornish groups, or schools, of stone sculpture. This is subdivided into three divisions, which begin with themes such as geography, including panelled interlace groups, which is the earliest form in the study, all of which are found in the eastern part of the county.

The next section is the Penwith group, and the final section is the Mid and East Cornwall group. The third division are Crosses with incised decoration and the final division are those crosses that date to after the Norman Conquest. In their fluid movement, the divisions are anything but clear. The next section of the study ends with some text on Dating the Monuments and the Function of the Crosses, before concluding with a section on Antiquarian studies and restoration. The core of the book is devoted to the catalogue of surviving works (numbered 1–100), each of which is illustrated with a drawing or photograph.

There are many parallels noted in the text that can be easily passed by. The example at Feock (number 36), for example, is compared to Irish Romanesque material, but, by and large, the corpus is described as a separate collection for which parallels do not exist. The book has many hidden treasures that are aimed at the knowledgeable as well as the general visitor. A lot is described in the book but not everything is referenced or sourced, and this is clearly something that was not important for the editors. The work deals only with the cross form, and other media are excluded. It is a book that deserves to be studied to reveal its wealth, but it needs to be examined cautiously, as the work of scholars such as Peter Harbison, the doyenne of scholars of the Irish high crosses, is not even referenced. The same is true for O'Carragain, Cramp, Hunt, and so on! It would not have been possible to have looked at every such work, but, although that was not the focus of this book, some reference to them would have been useful. All in all, it is good to see a book aimed at a general audience and produced to such a high standard.