Focusing on the historical content rather than the theological, Murray (history, U. of Toronto, Canada) has produced a lucid translation of a selection from Gregory of Tours' History of the Franks. Gregory is an irresistible story-teller and the tales of internecine squabbles, battles, intrigues, and cruelty never lack interest. Murray supplements the history with roadmarks that include an historical introduction, short summaries of the excluded passages, a bibliography, genealogies, and several maps. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)