As a belated present for János Bak’s eightieth birthday (celebrated by friends, students, and colleagues in April 2009), Ashgate published a volume of collected essays by János in the Variorum Collected Studies Series. The volume, edited by Gábor Klaniczay and Balázs Nagy, brings together eitghteen studies by János Bak written in English and German and published between 1973 and 2009. The papers in the volume discuss a wide range of topics, including the study of rulers, their symbols, and functions. A good number of essays examine late medieval Hungary and also the interactions of history and modern politics. This volume is not a simple reprint of earlier writings; specially for on this occasion and as clear evidence of his vivid creativity János Bak revised and updated two papers and translated the introduction of one other. In this way the present volume can bring some novelty even to those who are familiar with the scholarly works of the author. In addition, the volume includes a list of János Bak’s publications, listing more than forty papers by him published between 1999 and 2009.