Henry Beeching (1859-1919), Dean of Norwich, was the quintessential Man of Letters. A popular preacher and active for the cause of reform in the Church, he was also a poet, eminent scholar and a widely read journalist. Seen through the spectrum of national issues and challenges, Peter Fanning highlights Beeching's wide appeal both as a Christian thinker, literary scholar and a humourist. Many of the most celebrated scholars, poets and clergy were friends and correspondents; amongst them was the enduring relationship with his uncle, the poet Robert Bridges. Above all, Henry Beeching was a literary scholar and lover of Shakespeare who married this passion to a love of God. A contemporary journalist wrote that Henry Beeching was "widely known as a poet, preacher and professor. Many men are content to make a reputation in any one of these department. Mr Beeching has made a mark in each." It is the breadth of his interests and achievements that is unusual. This first full-length biography covers Beeching's character and his many interests and achievements, from the satirical and scandalous "Balliol epigrams" to sermons during the First World War and the creation of t Memorial Chapel at Norwich Cathedral.