St Paul's: The Cathedral Church of London 604-2004

Contemporary Review, Nov, 2004

St Paul's: The Cathedral Church of London 604-2004. Derek Keene, Arthur Burns and Andrew Saint, editors. Yale University Press. [pounds sterling]60.00. xvi 538 pages. ISBN 0-300-09276-8. At first glance this might be taken as a 'coffee table book' because of the extraordinary variety, quality and number of illustrations.

While these are valuable the real worth of the book lies in the contributions from a large team of scholars who have brought their latest researches to the task. The text is divided into three parts: the first eight chapters give a 'historical overview'; the second part, with nine contributions, discuss various aspects of the cathedral, its chapter and its place in national life up to the Protestant Reformation; the third and final part does the same from the Reformation to the present with contributions, for example, on music, the library, the book trade that grew up round the cathedral, the Great Fire of London and Wren's rebuilding and so on. This is a wonderful collection, well written and easy to read--a real triumph for the contributors, editors and Yale. (G.R.W.)