This anthology answers questions which range from fragments of Church history to reflections on architecture, from scenes of parochial life to serious theology, from saints like George Herbert to eccentrics like the Vicar of Stiffkey. Ever since the arrival of the first Christian missionaries in Britain, the Church has been inextricably woven into the fabric of national life. Authors as diverse as the Veneral Bede and Tony Benn, Margery Kempe and Stevie Smith, W.E. Gladstone and Thomas Hardy are included in this anthology. There are a total of 20 chapters on subjects as diverse as clergy wives, monks and nuns, preaching, clothes, pilgrimages and controversy.