'The case is made for specialists, but the depth and subtlety of its analysis give it much wider relevance. West's argument … is scrupulously conducted … it bears forcefully on many central issues, including the nature of feudalism and the dynamics of papal reform. Its reconciliation of the tension between continuity and change which is at the centre of this debate, as of so many others, shows how much has been lost in the hardening of a division between the early and the central Middle Ages. It evokes an even larger debate by implying that the European future was built not on the achievements of the Romans but on starting again at a level of society which they had failed to penetrate.' The Times Literary Supplement

'… an important book.' Simon John, English Historical Review

'The book is a tour de force which in many ways does succeed in reframing the debate. It is exemplary in its careful attention to the words of the documents and their contexts, in the sheer variety of sources used, as well as in its concern to look at both sides of the Franco-Imperial divide. … This book is essential for anyone working on social change in western Europe in this period.' Theo Riches, Early Medieval Europe