Although this book is about art, it is not about aesthetics. The author is an expert on trinkets from the Middle Ages, and uses these to understand the social world of the times. The images range from scatological to sacrilegious. They are not however pornography in the modern sense. Instead, many illustrate wisdom and foolishness, others seem to be apotropaic. The topic is fascinating, and the author brims with enthusiasm for his subject. For these features, as well as for the ways in which my understanding of the medieval world was enhanced, I would love to give the book at least four stars. Two factors hold me back. One is that the prose is uneven. At times witty and sharply-drawn, at other times repetitive and reading like a catalogue. I suspect that these portions were originally developed as text to accompany illustrated lectures. That brings me to the second caveat. Although the text refers to "color" illustrations, all of those in my copy of the book were in black-and-white, and only represented a small sample of the items to which the author refers. Nevertheless, on balance a good read, so in my book, three stars. ( )