Professor Chadwick completes his study of the Victorian Church with detailed accounts of the problems which confronted the Church in the latter part of the nineteenth century: the question of science and religion, the acceptance of biblical criticism, the Church in village and town, changes in the attitude to the episcopacy, relationship with the Roman Catholics, and the growth of secularization.
The material is organized in masterly fashion, the style of writing is characteristically engaging, and the innumerable sidelights on people in high and low places are as illuminating and relevant as in Part I of this work. The two volumes together provide an understanding of the background of many of the problems, which the Church faces today. For this edition Professor Chadwick has made many minor revisions to the text and included a number of additional bibliographical references.
"One of our liveliest and most learned historians . . . he has written the most instructive, trustworthy and enjoyable history of the subject that has ever appeared." The Sunday Times
"This is an amazing book, notable for conveying factual information in a form which commends and compels intense interest throughout." The Times Educational Supplement
"The Style of this brilliant book lies not in its treatment of the ideas of the greatest but in a full-blooded portrayal of English religion in its totality . . . A work of magisterial scholarship, presented with the art of the literary craftsman, it will serve both as a guide and a quarry for students of modern ecclesiastical history for many years to come." The English Historical Review
"Professor Chadwick is to be warmly praised for both these volumes, a fitting monument to one of the most remarkable periods in the history of Western Religion." Downside Review
Reverend Professor Owen Chadwick is a renowned Christian scholar and church historian. He is a former Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge and also served as Vice-Chancellor of the University. He also served as Master of Selwyn, College Cambridge from 1956-1983. Chadwick is an ordained Anglican Priest and was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1982.
