A lively account of Christianity in Britain, from the Roman and Celtic eras up through the Reformation and the modern church.

This authoritative account of the Church in England covers its history from earliest times to the late twentieth century—including chapters on the Roman, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Norman, and Medieval periods before a description of the Reformation and its effects, the Stuart period, and the Industrial Age, with a final chapter on the modern church through 1972.

After shedding light on how the faith spread during ancient times with historical tales of conversion and persecution, and revealing the details behind figures like St. Patrick, his interactions with pagan Irish tribes, and the monasteries he founded, the book goes on to cover the conversion of England, including the legendary stories of St. Gregory the Great and the Anglian boys and Augustine's baptism of over ten thousand people in the area of Canterbury on a single Christmas Day. Moving on through the centuries, it tells of scholars like Aldhelm, Bede, and Alcuin; Viking invasions; kings, popes, and power struggles; and the translation of the Bible. It conveys the impact of world-changing individuals like Henry VIII and Martin Luther and the breach with Rome; then moving toward the modern period tells of the evolution of the Church of England, the early Evangelicals, and the social and cultural changes of the twentieth century.

With fascinating detail on the church's role in everything from art and architecture to education, this is a wide-ranging look at British history through the perspective of religion.