Review Reviews the Norman cultural package of town, castle and monastery, with an extension of housing into the Kinecroft area. The archaeological evidence, however, hints at a more punctuated profile. For example, there is a potential gap in the town’s material culture between the late twelfth century to about 1550 (the low point in the documented population figures), although one of the central church cemeteries was in use during the fourteenth century. The discussion about living, working and trading in medieval Wallingford assumes that it served the traditional functions of a medieval town. Yet the sample of the fourteenth-century court rolls emphasise the high- status nature of the activities mentioned; even the 1156 borough charter of Henry II could be read to emphasise the past political loyalty of Wallingford rather than an implied economic vitality. Is it possible that the town was more of a royal creature (implied in the discussion about town-castle relations) that failed to develop into a place that catered for the demands of the locality, and that this led to its early decline? The unusual experience of Wallingford compared to its urban neighbours is instructive and shows its failure to compete economically, even though its hinterland contained some of the highest densities of population in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, at least to c. 1240. And the social implications of this pattern may be significant—Wallingford’s decline might be more related to the failure to replace its population through immigration, as was the norm with all other medieval towns. Might the leitmotif of the Wallingford sequence be more related to the impact of state-driven military considerations than the traditional economic imperatives we usually see in medieval towns, especially as we often underestimate the level of royal interest in English (as opposed to European) towns? This is a major landmark in urban history, both in terms of the scope of the project and the techniques used. It should also stimulate further discussion about the strategies of urban archaeology, particularly for those smaller or undeveloped towns which have thin stratigraphy and open areas which call out for investigation. GRENVILLE ASTILL Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, UK (Email: g.g.astill@reading.ac.uk) GLENN FOARD &ANNE CURRY. Bosworth 1485: a battlefield rediscovered.x+219 pages, 117 colour and b&w illustrations, 3 tables. 2013. Oxford & Oakville (CT): Oxbow; 978-1-78297-173-3 hardback £45. Battlefield archaeology is a relative newcomer within the broader remit of conflict archaeology and whereas there are many books relating to the ar- chaeology of con- flict there are still very few—and even fewer good ones— which deal with the archaeology of battle. For these reasons, Foard and Curry’s Bosworth 1485 is an important contribution. The book begins with the story of the rediscovery of the Bosworth battlefield. As with many other historical battlefields, Bosworth was initially so famous that everyone took for granted that its location would always be remembered. As such, historical texts often located battles only in general terms as taking place between two villages or towns. If, however, these settlements were some distant apart, rediscovering the focus of action might be far from straightforward. Such was the case at Bosworth. The second chapter presents the general historical literature on the period including how the armies were recruited and organised from the king down. This is a very detailed discussion and is not light reading but serves to provide important historical context. The following chapter turns to the specific documents and literature of the Battle of Bosworth. Both chapters are excellent and will provide much grist for the mill of the military historian. Next comes a reconstruction of the battlefield terrain, or the landscape at the time of the battle. The (lack of ) management of surface water is an important issue at Bosworth, as the construction of ditches has altered the former condition of the once waterlogged ground. This latter aspect is key as one of the few descriptions of the battlefield locates the armies in proximity to an area of marshland. Analysing the history and general landscape of a battle is one thing, but finding physical evidence of it is another matter entirely. The next chapter concerns the most crucial aspect of the project: the archaeological metal-detecting survey. Investigations C  Antiquity Publications Ltd. 999