A brief, final coda, however, pulls the chapters together. This is laudable, but juxtaposing independently composed essays of different vintages occasions some repetition and a slight lack of flow.
The peculiarity derives from most contributions being revisions of relatively recent journal articles, partly updated, but also modified for a general readership. Its strength lies in providing overviews of continuing research on the northern Picts, here defined as the inhabitants primarily of present-day Aberdeenshire and Moray. This is both a useful, and a slightly curious, compendium.