William Whyte is Professor of Social and Architectural History and Vice President of St John's College, Oxford. His last book, Redbrick: a social and architectural history of Britain's civic universities was shortlisted for the Longman-History Today prize and the Alice Davis Hitchcock Medal of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain. He serves as associate priest in the parish of Kidlington and writes regularly for the Church Times.
You will never look at your local church in the same way again. With an eye for the telling detail, William Whyte has become a master at reading church buildings. Elegantly written, it must be impossible to read this book without pleasure or profit. * Canon Dr Giles Fraser * In this erudite, engaging and witty book, William Whyte gives us a brilliantly original account of how the Victorians profoundly reshaped church buildings and their use, and demonstrates how much the Victorians continue to influence our ideas about churches today - often in surprising ways. * Jane Shaw, Professor of Religious Studies, Stanford University * This beautifully written book is an erudite yet very accessible and entertaining study of the relationship between Victorian church architecture and faith. The Victorians built and restored tens of thousands of churches. Understanding more about them and, through them, the faith that inspired them, is to gain invaluable insights into our national history and identity. This book enables just that. * The Rt Reverend Dr John Inge, Bishop of Worcester * A country mile distant from the heavy prose of the Victorian churchmen, Whyte writes nimbly and wittily about the resacralisation of Britain through the vast church building of the 19th century. * Oxford Today * Alarmingly learned and constantly entertaining. * Peter Mullen, Catholic Herald *