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There has been a revolution. The God who ruled over us for five hundred years has been overthrown. The soul of England has been transformed, almost without anybody noticing. Gone are the shared values and confidence of a nation that seemed so sure of itself and what it believed in, even as recently as the wedding of Charles and Diana, our last great festival of certainty.
Since then the number of people who go to church on Sunday has halved. More of us go to IKEA. Millions still believe in God but never want to go near a pew again. Why have we turned away, and what does it mean? Moreton uncovers the battles, blunders, sex scandals and financial disasters that caused the long predicted death of the established Church. But this extraordinary story is about all of us, not just the Christians. Can a new national identity emerge, now that we have a thousand gods instead of just one? Moreton says yes and reveals how a constantly evolving but uniquely English spirituality remains at the heart of who we are.
Since then the number of people who go to church on Sunday has halved. More of us go to IKEA. Millions still believe in God but never want to go near a pew again. Why have we turned away, and what does it mean? Moreton uncovers the battles, blunders, sex scandals and financial disasters that caused the long predicted death of the established Church. But this extraordinary story is about all of us, not just the Christians. Can a new national identity emerge, now that we have a thousand gods instead of just one? Moreton says yes and reveals how a constantly evolving but uniquely English spirituality remains at the heart of who we are.
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Reviews
** This exuberant and assured book posits the central dilemmas of our times . . . eccentric, mystifying and gripping
** 'The Cole Moreton revealed in IS GOD STILL AN ENGLISHMAN? is intelligent, vulnerable, modest and philanthropic: an immensely likeable commentator on matters spiritual . . . It should be required reading for every English man and woman - whatever their
** 'Absorbing, and colourful, as any religious ritual. He weaves in a witty, self-knowing, self-mocking account of his own faith journey . . . an elegant, potted social and cultural history of 1980s and 1990s Britain, told in the broad, sweeping manner of a prime-time BBC television history series, presented by an off-duty newscaster, full of wonderfully evocative references . . . There are many good things about this book, not least the personality of its author, which is stamped on every page. He can make you laugh out loud, and generates a momentum that has you turning the pages wanting it never to end. And his theory, when the party finally reaches its conclusion, namely that there is some kind of spiritual something going on here right now, is intriguing
** 'There were times during this book when I thought it was one of the most perceptive and original studies of the English that I've read in ages