Cantuar - Archbishops in Their Office (Paperback, 3rd Revised edition)

'My intention in this study is to illustrate across the centuries the outreach of an office, together with the characters and aptitudes of those who have discharged it: to trace how the Archbishop, in his unique office, has helped to condition, and in his turn been conditioned by, the continuing life of the English people.' So wrote Dean Edward Carpenter, in 1971, in his Preface to the first edition of this unique and authoritative study of the See of Canterbury and the Archbishops who have held office in it. This third edition coincides with the celebrations surrounding the 1,400th anniversary of the arrival of St. Augustine and the establishment of the See of Canterbury in 597. Updated by Adrian Hastings, it features an additonal chapter covering the tenure of Archibishops Ramsay, Coggan and Runcie, and a final secion reflecting on Archbishop George Carey and the challenges that face the Anglican Communion as we move towards a new millenium. Detailed and comprehensive, Cantaur is an essential reference book for anyone with an interest in Church history.It is also a fascinating read, a story about human beings, an ideal gift for anyone who cares about the context in which the Anglican Communion has developed over the past 1,400 years. Edward Carpenter is a distinguished scholar of Church History, he is the author of three biographies of seventeenth-century bishops, including one of Henry Compton who was bishop of London at the time of the 1688 Revolution. More recently, he has written a biography of Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury 1945-1961. He has also edited the official history of Westminster Abbey, A House of Kings. Having been successively Canon and then Archdeacon, he was Dean of Westminster Abbey from 1974 to 1985. Adrian Hastings is Emeritus Professor of Theology at the University of Leeds. A historian as well as a theologian, Professor Hastings was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1955 and worked for many years in Africa. He is the author of major histories of the Church in both England and Africa.