Unique in terms of coverage, investigating the development of reform as an idea propagated by the papacy during the eleventh century, and why papal reform developed in the way it did; Fulfils a valuable function both in summarizing current work and presenting a cogent and nuanced argument; Reverses the recent trend among historians of emphasizing reform developments in the localities at the expense of those being undertaken in Rome; By placing the relationship between reform and the papacy in the context of the debate about social `transformation`, it also contributes to the ongoing debates in the scholarship.