This text provides a line-by-line commentary on Books XIII-XXIV of Homer's epic poem, the Iliad.

The 'red Macmillan' Iliad in the edition of W. Leaf, which had served since the 1880s, was replaced by the two volume edition of M.M. Willcock. Coverage of twelve books in each volume demands concise introduction and commentary, but Willcock is not omissive. He includes, for example, mention of significant aspects of Homeric diction more fully in the early lines of the book, in order that the student may begin on any particular one; and the tight compass does not prevent him engaging in, or referring to, problems of composition or text addressed by scholars more advanced than sixth formers, and undergraduates for whom the edition is primarily intended.