'This book is to be welcomed. It is the Carolingian synthesis for a new generation; everyone from students to established academics will need to read it. It is highly sensitive to the transformation of approaches of the last generation of political/cultural historians, and it moves seamlessly into a welcome new analysis of the non-aristocratic majority as well.' Chris Wickham, Chichele Professor of Medieval History, University of Oxford
'Costambeys organizes his material both thematically and chronologically … a major contribution to the history of Italy in the eighth and ninth centuries and an important complement to the other books about the history of Farfa. This is a very well researched and thought-provoking book.' Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies
'Costambeys, Innes and MacLean are to be commended for having fulfilled their task [to provide a new synthesis taking into account the insights of the most recent scholarship] admirably, surveying and synthesising a vast body of source material and scholarship and presenting it with elegance and clarity … heartily to be recommended as a one-volume introduction for students and a useful work of reference for seasoned scholars.' Shami Ghosh, Reviews in History (history.ac.uk/reviews)
'Costambeys, Innes, and MacLean have provided an accessible and up-to-date survey to specialists and students of the period, as well as to interested lay readers.' Hans J. Hummer, H-Net Reviews (h-net.org)