Treasures of the English Churches

This attractive and imaginative book does for English parish churches what Mark Girouard's book did for English country houses - it sets their development and art in a lively historical context. It is a must for anyone who enjoys wandering around country churches.Consisting of a fairly short narrative text and a useful gazetteer, it treats its subject chronologically, from Saxon times to the twentieth century. It is accompanied by exceptional photographs, taken specifically for this book by Peter Burton and Harland Walshaw, with detailed captions.The angle is unprecedented: rather than being narrowly topographical or predominantly architectural in approach, John Martin Robinson concentrates on the furnishing and works of art to be found in the churches and sets them in the context of adapting religious requirements and changing aesthetic tastes, blending history and art into a coherent story.