I have regularly reviewed books in the fields of medieval history, Old English language and literature as well as medievalism. You can find open access links to my reviews, as well as links to the books I reviewed, below.

[Review of] Mark Atherton, Complete Old English: A Comprehensive Guide to Reading and Understanding Old English with Original Texts (Teach Yourself, 2019)

English Studies (2022)

“Mark Atherton’s Complete Old English is an Old English primer without long lists of grammatical paradigms, overviews of sound changes, markers of vowel length, Alfred the Great and Ælfric’s Colloquy. Some teachers of Old English may be outraged by these omissions, while others may herald this book as a welcome break from pedagogical traditions within Old English studies that find their origin in the nineteenth century. Individual enthusiasts of Old English will certainly find much to enjoy in this self-access course in the language and culture of Anglo-Saxon England.”

Open Access link to my review: https://doi.org/10.17613/82wg-9q37

Link to the book: https://library.teachyourself.com/id004325874/Complete-Old-English

[Review of] Ursula Lenker and Lucia Kornexl (eds.), Anglo-Saxon Micro-Texts (De Gruyter, 2019)

Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik 80 (2020), 233-236

“Overall, Anglo-Saxon Micro-Texts is a well-executed and inspiring contribution to the study of early medieval England. The editors should be commended for putting together a volume that combines traditional and innovative approaches to under-researched and under-appreciated texts. With its focus on short texts within their individual historical, cultural, material and manuscript contexts, this volume provides an interesting counterweight to recent research agendas that advocate the study of ever larger corpora and big data. Bigger is not always better; gnomes and dwarfs are often more interesting than giants.”

Open Access link to my review: https://doi.org/10.17613/g5kx-9224

Link to the book: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110630961/html

[Review of] H. Gneuss and M. Lapidge, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts. A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100 (University of Toronto Press, 2014)

Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik 76 (2016), 551-553

“Gneuss and Lapidge’s Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts lists every surviving manuscript or manuscript fragment written in or imported into Anglo-Saxon England between the seventh and the eleventh centuries. With its total of 1291 entries and a bibliography of over four thousand items, this extensive reference work is a major milestone in the field of Anglo-Saxon manuscript studies and an essential tool for anyone interested in intellectual life in early medieval England.”

Open Access link to my review: https://doi.org/10.17613/6ajb-r720

Link to the book: https://utorontopress.com/9781442616288/anglo-saxon-manuscripts/

[Review of] J. D. Niles, The Idea of Anglo-Saxon England 1066-1901. Remembering, Forgetting, Deciphering, and Renewing the Past (Wiley, 2015)

Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik 76 (2016), 435-438

“John Niles’ outstanding survey … outlining ten centuries of interaction with the history, language and literature of early medieval England … forms an accessible introduction to the development of a scholarly discipline and caters to beginning Anglo-Saxonists and more experienced scholars alike.”

Open Access link to my review: https://doi.org/10.17613/vm1r-hh09

Link to the book: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Idea+of+Anglo+Saxon+England+1066+1901%3A+Remembering%2C+Forgetting%2C+Deciphering%2C+and+Renewing+the+Past-p-9781118943328

[Review of] E. Treharne, Living through Conquest: The Politics of Early English, 1020-1220 (Oxford University Press, 2012)

English Studies 96 (2015), 225–226.

“In Living Through Conquest, Elaine Treharne … highlights not only the overwhelming presence of English material in the period c. 1020 to 1220, but also the ideological and cultural relevance of this vernacular output for the conquered speakers of English. The result is a thought-provoking, multidimensional study that paves the way for future research.”

Open Access link to my review: https://doi.org/10.17613/n9c3-8y45

Link to the book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/living-through-conquest-9780199585267?cc=nl&lang=en&

[Review of] R.D. Fulk, An Introductory Grammar of Old English with an Anthology of Readings (ACMRS Press, 2014)

SELIM: Journal of the Spanish Society for Mediaeval English Language and Literature 20 (2013-2014), 287-290

“Fulk’s Introductory Grammar is explicitly aimed at graduate students and advanced undergraduates, and rightly so. With its level of philological detail, this textbook requires a student with a keen linguistic interest and is not likely to appeal to students who are just starting out or those with a taste for the culture and history of the Anglo-Saxons (which is treated in a little under two pages).”

Open Access link to my review: https://doi.org/10.17613/M6M03XX04

Link to the book: https://hdl.handle.net/2022/25547 (Open Access)

[Review of] R.M. Hogg and R.D. Fulk, A Grammar of Old English. Volume 2: Morphology (Wiley, 2011)

English Studies 94 (2013), 733–734

“With its clear style and exhaustive treatment of all things morphological, this is a reference work that belongs in every Old English teacher’s tool kit.”

Open Access link to my review: https://doi.org/10.17613/8f57-k195

Link to the book: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/A+Grammar+of+Old+English,+Volume+2:+Morphology-p-9780631136712

[Review of] T. Bolton, The Empire of Cnut the Great: Conquest and the Consolidation of Power in Northern Europe in the Early Eleventh Century (Brill, 2009)

English Studies 94 (2013), 235–237

“Bolton’s book is a thorough study of Cnut’s conquests and the consolidation of power in his Anglo-Scandinavian empire. … Bolton manages to cast a new light on a pivotal period in English and Scandinavian history.”

Open Access link to my review: https://doi.org/10.17613/g8gn-fe07

Link to the book: https://brill.com/view/title/15086

[Review of] The Old English Boethius. An Edition of the Old English Versions of Boethius’s De Consolatione Philosophiae, ed. M. Godden and S. Irvine (Oxford University Press, 2009)

English Studies 92 (2011), 100–102

“It sets the standard for future editions of medieval texts, not in the least by illustrating how detailed and thorough an edition of a text can (and should) be.”

Open Access link to my review: https://doi.org/10.17613/k15v-fg34

Link to the book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-old-english-boethius-9780199259663?cc=nl&lang=en&

[Review of] E.R. Anderson, Understanding Beowulf as an Indo-European Epic: A Study in Comparative Mythology (Mellen Press, 2010)

English Studies 92 (2011), 693–694

“Anderson’s Understanding Beowulf is a thought-provoking book, which will inspire many readers to reread Beowulf with invigorated interest and renewed understanding.”

Open Access link to my review: https://doi.org/10.17613/abgr-xe27

Link to the book: https://mellenpress.com/book/Understanding-Beowulf-as-an-Indo-European-Epic-A-Study-in-Comparative-Mythology/8021/

[Review of]  J. Tigelaar, Brabants historie ontvouwd. Die alder excellenste cronyke van Brabant en het Brabantse geschiedbeeld anno 1500 (Verloren, 2006)

Noordbrabants Historisch Jaarboek 24 (2007), 227–230

“Tigelaar beheerst de materie gedegen en biedt met deze studie een goed geschreven introductie in de belangrijkste thema’s van de Brabantse historiografie. Als zodanig is het boek dan ook een stimulans voor verder onderzoek naar de geschiedschrijving in deze contreien.”

Open Access link to my review: http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M63775V4B

Link to the book: https://verloren.nl/Webshop/Detail/catid/23590/eid/31633/brabants-historie-ontvouwd