This English translation of Gilbert of Mon's Chronicle of Hainaut is most welcome. Not only does it make an important twelfth-century source of French, Flemish and western German history more readily available, but Laura Napran's introduction provides a helpful discussion of the author, text, and historical value of this chronicle.
Napran's goal was to provide a readable translation, that remained faithful to the flavor and style of the Latin original, for scholars and undergraduates who lack Latin. She succeeds admirably. Gilbert's style is clear, varied, and learned without the rhetorical convolutions of some of his contemporaries. Napran gracefully and accurately translates Gilbert's text. She wisely omits many of Gilbert's frequent use of autem (yet), quidam (a certain) and quidem (indeed), which she correctly deduces "would drive the modern reader to madness". (xxxii) She adheres to Gilbert's methods of identifying individuals (e.g. "son of") and places (e.g. Chauniacum is translated Chauny rather than Chauny-sur-l'Oise). The only time this practice becomes problematic is in the early genealogical sections of the chronicle. Although there are occasional insertions of a numeric designator for the count, for example, Baldwin IV, I would have liked to have seen more in the genealogical sections. For those unfamiliar with comital family of Hainaut, it is difficult to remember the parents of each count, particularly as Gilbert provides detailed information of the counts' siblings' marriages and offspring intermixed with the details of the counts' wives and progeny (and their marriages).
The supporting apparatus serve the reader well. The biographical information about Gilbert, the discussion of the manuscripts, editions, and previous translations are succinct but complete. The discussion of the influence of Gilbert's chronicle is a little too brief. I would also have liked to have seen a short section comparing Gilbert's chronicle to the works of contemporaries. Napran's analysis of the historical value of Gilbert's work is quite useful and suggest avenues of future research. It would have been interesting to have some analysis of how this chronicle contributed to the reputation of the comital family of Hainaut. The notes to the text are extensive. They not only provide corrections of Gilbert's information, variations in the manuscript texts, but also point the reader to secondary works that elaborate on the events, individuals, or issues. The bibliography is reasonably lengthy and furnishes many leads for further research. The maps and genealogical tables are clear and "user-friendly" and the index is excellent.
Napran's translation of Gilbert's chronicle is commendable and a welcome addition to the primary sources one can recommend to students to use for research. While it wasn't her goal, I wish that this translation had also included the Latin text on facing pages. As Napran notes in her introduction, Leon Vanderkindere's Latin edition of this text is not very accessible; it would have been a boon to scholars and more advanced students to have both available in the same volume. While the absence of the Latin text is regrettable, Napran has followed Vanderkindere's chapter divisions, which allows one to find the relevant Latin passages easily after reading the translation.