"A wonderful serendipitous collection of the writings of contemporaries about the Church in England from AD 550 till the present day. . . . The book provides a vivid warts-and-all portrait of the nature of religious experience and custom in an established church. As the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church grow closer in an increasingly atheistic world, I regard this book as useful reading for us English Catholics, indeed, for any English-speaking Catholics to understand what has formed the mentality of the established church and its offshoots in England. . . . One of the many charms of the book is encountering works by names one knows little of like William of Malmesbury, and unknown works by names one knows very well; there are many contributions from 19th-century authors. The book is highly educational if one reads it from cover to cover, and very entertaining to dip into to pick out a selection of its gems."

Septimus Waugh | Catholic Herald (UK)

“This is a brilliantly chosen anthology, from the inventive Gildas to the enchanting Betjeman, and is a perfect complement for the ‘built word’ of church architecture. A total delight.”

Simon Jenkins, author of England’s Thousand Best Churches