Short books should always be commended, particularly when they cover big subjects. William Sancroft, archbishop of Canterbury from 1678 to 1690, has left behind a vast archive of manuscript material, mostly in the Bodleian, and a huge library of books, mostly in Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Together they constitute a scholarly Everest to climb, which partially explains the extraordinary lack of dedicated writing on such a significant seventeenth-century individual. The only previous full-length published biography, by George D'Oyly, appeared in two editions as long ago as 1821/1840, though in the modern era it must be supplemented by an impressive ODNB entry by Robert Beddard, a sparkling essay by Patrick Collinson, based on a 1993 lecture to mark the tercentenary of Sancroft's death, and an important account of his library by Helen Carron. In just under 120 pages of main text John Tiller now offers a clear account of Sancroft's life and career, informed by a fair degree of research in the key unpublished manuscripts. He is good on Sancroft's Suffolk background, even-handed on the homosocial character of the intense letters of friendship he exchanged as a young man with his college chamber-fellow, Arthur Bownest, and insightful on aspects of his piety. Tiller writes throughout with the experience of a retired archdeacon in the Church of England, and co-editor of the major cathedral history for Hereford. Some of his concluding comments on Sancroft's overall career and cast of mind are shrewd. The emphasis on his profound grasp of detail; his goal, as archbishop, of reforming the workings of the Church; and his gift for friendship all ring true. Calling him a ‘cross-grained man’ out of sorts with his time is also just right. On the other hand, Tiller seems to this reviewer rather naive about the extent of Sancroft's ambitions at several points in his career, and generally to be too inclined to see the best in him, whether in letting him off lightly for fleeing London during the plague, or in overlooking some of his less pleasant characteristics. Tiller's verdict that a consideration of Sancroft's whole career ‘reveals a record of achievement which not many churchmen have equalled in any age' (p. 110) certainly provides much food for thought (though I remain puzzled by the two references to Sancroft serving as Cambridge's vice-chancellor in the 1660s). Overall, this is an excellent brief guide to a very important ecclesiastical career – albeit one that ended in profound failure, with the post-revolutionary nonjuring schism, Sancroft's deprivation from Canterbury and retreat to his rural origins in Suffolk. Praise must also be directed at the publisher of this book, Shaun Tyas, for producing a very attractive volume so affordably. This no longer seems to be fashionable at the larger presses, but there is much to be said for such a policy. The numerous picture plates at the end of the volume are a particularly valuable addition to the text.