The English Soul: The Faith of a Nation

(Hardback)

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The English Soul portrays the spirit and nature of English Christianity as it has developed over the last 1,400 years. As the predominant faith of the people, Christianity has been the reflection, perhaps the embodiment, of the English soul. This fascinating new history argues that Christianity has been the anchoring and defining doctrine of England, while accepting respectfully that other powerful and significant faiths have also influenced the religious sensibility of this nation. Peter Ackroyd surveys the lives and faith of the most important figures of English Christianity, from the Venerable Bede to C. S. Lewis, exploring the mysticism of Julian of Norwich and William Blake, the tumultuous years of the Reformation, the emergence of the English Bible, the evangelical tradition, including John Wesley, and the contemporary contest between tradition, revival and atheism. This is an essential, comprehensive and accessible survey of English Christianity.

Reviews

"A wonderful, occasionally breathless, often enlightening and always entertaining pilgrimage through 1,400 years in search of the faith of the nation, or, more broadly, the English soul, which exists beyond the confines of institutional religion. As a guide to its history and spiritual drama, Ackroyd is colourful, opinionated and thought-provoking."--Peter Stanford, author of "If These Stones Could Talk: The History of Christianity in Britain and Ireland through Twenty Buildings"
"It is the gift of the historian to accompany a compelling narrative with a passionate intensity that helps the reader see why it matters so much, an analytical detachment that offers rewarding evaluation, and a playful predilection for anecdote that charms and cheers. Ackroyd combines all four in this marvellous episodic depiction of faith in England, which wisely eschews comprehensiveness for the relish of close encounter. In doing so, Ackroyd describes how the word has most characteristically and distinctively become flesh in this green and pleasant land. By the end you know Christianity better--and you know England better."--Samuel Wells, Vicar, St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
"Since before there was an England, the English have been defined by their relationship with Christianity--both positive and negative--in its many, ever-changing forms. Through Ackroyd's calm gaze we see the leading characters and moments of that story, facile judgements suspended in favour of a warm, rigorous humanity."--Alec Ryrie, professor of the history of Christianity, Durham University

Author Bio

Peter Ackroyd is one of Britain's most respected historians and novelists. His many books include London: The Biography, Hawksmoor, and the bestselling History of England series.