The book under review here is part of the series "Translation Theories Explained", which has among its global goals those of "... plac(ing) a general approach within its historical context, giving examples to illustrate the main ideas, summarizing the most significant debates and opening perspectives for future work" (Series Editor Anthony Pym in his foreword to the series). Fawcett adds to this his own intent, outlined in his foreword: "I have nevertheless tried to cover in reasonable detail those areas which have been central to the subject and give at least mention to others, which the reader can follow up through the bibliography". Both sets of goals sound very reasonable for the series, and for the book under review, and it is in terms of these that the following review will be undertaken.