Book excerpt: The Venerable Bede's history of the Christian church in England, written in the early eighth century, still stands as a significant literary work. Translated from Latin into various other languages, Bede's fascinating history has long been widely studied. Thirteen centuries later, this thorough and reliable guide by J. Robert Wright enables today's readers to follow the major English translations of Bede's work and to understand exactly what Bede was saying, what he meant, and why his words and account remain so important. Wright'sCompanion to Bede provides the answers to most questions that careful, intelligent readers of Bede are apt to ask. Despite the countless numbers of books and articles about Bede, there is no other comprehensive companion to his text that can be read in tandem with the medieval author himself. A Giniger book