Shepherds, Sheep, Hirelings & Wolves: An Anthology of Christian Currents in English Life since 550 AD

Description

For many today the Church stands picturesquely in the background of modern life, but its time-honoured place has always been firmly in the foreground; it has been intimately woven into the unfolding fabric of English society and culture for one and a half thousand years. This may be largely lost to view, but the legacy is everywhere. The people ideally placed to bring this past to life - what it stood for, what it achieved, as well as the upheavals it has caused - are those whose first-hand stories speak directly to us. This anthology has assembled a crowd of witnesses, starting from Christianity's rugged, pioneering times when its role in the shaping of England was so influential, continuing through the great flowerings of enlightenment and times of turbulence, right up to this present, less certain age. These are the voices of saints and sinners, dignitaries and dissidents, shrewd observers and ordinary parishioners.

Tim Williams grew up in and around Cambridge, where he went on to study Classics and English at Trinity College. His teaching career started in York and was largely spent at Bedales School in Hampshire, where he became deputy head. He subsequently had a psychotherapy practice in London for fifteen years. His main interests are literature, cultural history, music and the countryside. He is married, has one son and a fine spread of stepchildren and grandchildren; he now lives between the West Country and London.

"A wonderful serendipitous collection of the writings of contemporaries about the Church in England from AD 550 till the present day. . . . The book provides a vivid warts-and-all portrait of the nature of religious experience and custom in an established church. As the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church grow closer in an increasingly atheistic world, I regard this book as useful reading for us English Catholics, indeed, for any English-speaking Catholics to understand what has formed the mentality of the established church and its offshoots in England. . . . One of the many charms of the book is encountering works by names one knows little of like William of Malmesbury, and unknown works by names one knows very well; there are many contributions from 19th-century authors. The book is highly educational if one reads it from cover to cover, and very entertaining to dip into to pick out a selection of its gems." -- Septimus Waugh * Catholic Herald (UK) * "This is a brilliantly chosen anthology, from the inventive Gildas to the enchanting Betjeman, and is a perfect complement for the 'built word' of church architecture. A total delight." -- Simon Jenkins, author of England's Thousand Best Churches