This book is an attempt by Salisbury to put the well-known source, the Passio of Perpetua and Felicity, into a broad cultural and religious context, though I don't think it's a particularly successful one. I think she was aiming it at an undergrad audience, but instead of merely simplifying some concepts she dumbed them down a little—Salisbury doesn't really engage with some of the interpretive issues or explain why she adopts some of the opinions which she does, and I think showing how historians make the choices they make when writing history is even more key when writing for an interested lay reader. She makes some interesting suggestions, but we really don't have the sources to back up what she's saying, which draws a big question mark over a lot of her conclusions. Could be used in an undergrad course, but I think only with great care. ( )