This edition of the Phaedrus is intended for intermediate readers of Greek. The volume contains a brief preface, an introduction by M.L. Gill, Burnet's unchanged OCT edition of the Phaedrus, over 250 pages of detailed grammatical, historical and cultural commentary, a spare index of Greek and English terms, and a short bibliography. Instructors and students will find it more detailed than Rowe's Phaedrus (1987) and more accessible than Hackforth (1952) or De Vries (1969). This edition is surpassed by Yunis's Phaedrus (2011) in both argumentation and philosophical interpretation, although it may be preferred for its approachability, scope and organisation.

M.L. Gill's introduction is concise and informative, acquainting students with many of the dialogue's recognised interpretative puzzles. She begins by noting the ‘strangeness’ of the setting and of the character Socrates, who appears quite unlike himself throughout, walking outside the city, remarking on the beauty of the landscape and making long, passionate speeches. She also notes the difficulty of determining the dialogue's dramatic date – it is unlikely that Socrates could have had such a conversation with Phaedrus in his youth. These peculiarities, Gill suggests, transport the reader ‘outside ordinary time and place into an enchanted world of make-believe’. In addition, the introduction contains a brief discussion of the problem of unity. Many scholars have noted the lack of fit between the speeches in the first half of the dialogue and the discussion of rhetoric in the second half. Gill puts forward a novel solution to this problem, one that will be of interest even to hardened Platonists. It is her view that each section of the dialogue appeals to a distinct part of Phaedrus' soul. Socrates' first speech engages his appetite, the palinode engages his emotions and the discussion of rhetoric engages his intellect. The dialogue as a whole, then, can be seen as a demonstration of the way in which a practitioner of ‘true rhetoric’ tailors a speech to the soul of his audience. This interpretation is new and interesting; it is unfortunate, however, that Gill does not elaborate, nor is her suggestion taken up explicitly by the volume's otherwise judicious commentary.

R.'s commentary has three parts: ‘The Non-lover Has His Day’, ‘The Palinode’ and ‘Toward an Art of Speaking’. These divisions appear to be an attempt, albeit an opaque one, to lend some weight to Gill's solution to the problem of unity. The three parts correspond roughly to her suggestion that each part of the dialogue appeals to a part of Phaedrus' soul. The three parts of the commentary are further divided along familiar thematic and narrative lines, and each subsection is accompanied by a brief synopsis. This organisation lends itself easily to the classroom, and students will benefit from the volume's easily-digestible segments.

The greatest strength of this edition is the frequency of notation. Whereas other commentaries on the Phaedrus are more compact, R.'s grammatical notes are abundant and instructive. Students will find his constant attention to particles and comparisons with English syntax especially helpful. His translations are careful and apt, although many explanations make use of untranslated Greek vocabulary. R.'s notes often discuss textual difficulties and include editorial suggestions from Hackforth, De Vries and Rowe. Less experienced readers may find this distracting, although his remarks are limited largely to textual difficulties that have significant interpretative implications. Overall, the volume is to be commended for its clarity and attention to the complexity of Plato's language; R. goes to great lengths to point out the dialogue's amorous overtones, poetic rhythms and technical rhetorical vocabulary.

His literary and cultural notes are, for the most part, quite successful. For example, readers new to the Phaedrus are often struck by the eccentricities of the palinode. At 248b5–d4, Socrates claims that the cycle of reincarnation lasts 10,000 years. Each soul is judged after the first 1000 years and is reborn as a creature befitting its character in the previous life. R. observes that the details of this account are likely references to Herodotus and Pindar, who recorded similar conventions of Orphic, Pythagorean and even Egyptian origin. What bearing other digressions of this sort have on the text is less clear. In a lengthy note on οὕτω at 237b, R. observes that this word is sometimes used to introduce a fable; in further support of this point, he cites three plays and elaborates on the circumstances of each. Although relevant, this amount of explanation is unnecessary. Digressions of this length arise with some frequency in the volume, but are not so frequent as to distract from its overall effectiveness.

Where R. weighs in on the philosophical import of a word or phrase, his assertions are largely considered and circumspect. Notwithstanding, he sometimes makes contentious philosophical pronouncements without mention of any difficulty. In his discussion of 247c3–4, he takes the phrase οὔτε τις ὕμνησέ πω τῶν τῇδε ποιητὴς οὔτε ποτὲ ὑμνήσει κατ᾽ἀξίαν to suggest the ‘ineffability’ of the soul's otherworldly experience. This interpretation is not unnatural, yet there is significant disagreement among historians of philosophy as to the role of reason and explanation in the experience of the forms. More generally, it is surprising that many of the Phaedrus' well-rehearsed philosophical puzzles go undiscussed in a commentary of such breadth. Scholars have noted that Socrates professes a number of curious views, especially in the palinode – he classifies philosophy as a form of μανία (249c4–250b1) and describes the immortal soul as a complex entity which, for the first time in the dialogues, appears to retain its mortal parts (cf. Phd. 80d; Rep. 439, 611a–b). A commentary for students need not elaborate on these peculiar views, yet some reference to the relevant scholarly literature would have been appropriate.

As a whole, this edition will be useful for students new to the Phaedrus. The volume is limited in its philosophical interpretation and argument, and somewhat lacking in its references to secondary literature. Nevertheless, R. is adept at explaining what lies beyond the text. His frequent grammatical notes and careful attention to the subtleties of Plato's language are sure to draw curious readers into this strange and charming dialogue.