The British Library houses one of the world's great collections of illuminated manuscripts. Janet Backhouse has drawn on this rich resource to make a selection of outstanding examples that span over eight centuries of medieval book production. She begins with the Lindisfarne Gospels and continues with a representative cross-section that reveals the remarkable diversity and wealth - aesthetic and artefactual - to be found in medieval manuscripts.

With a concise introductory text, informative captions and full-colour reproductions, this is the perfect introduction to an endlessly fascinating subject.