Late Antiquity, edited by G. W. Bowersock, Peter Brown and Oleg Grabar
When Arnaldo Momigliano was at the University of Chicago he used to argue that we should teach not "church history" but just "history." This is the implicit view of most of the contributors to this large, well-illustrated volume. The editors urge readers to use this impressive guide "with enterprise and patience," especially by choosing the right terms to look up. Eleven well-constructed essays on major themes in the modern study of late antiquity precede the book's brief, solid and up-to-date encyclopedia-style articles.