This book is a landmark reference publication, which should rightfully belong in every seminary and major college library. It is probably the first book of its kind to offer a comprehensive guide to the Anglican Communion, and as such, surpasses the rather dated (though still illustrious) Study of Anglicanism (1988) edited by Stephen Sykes and John Booty some 25 years ago. The editors set themselves a substantial task: to compose a comprehensive and ground-breaking volume, drawing from leading international scholars of different opinions and views, that provides an authoritative and up-to-date representation of the cutting-edge debates and issues that inform the study of global Anglicanism.

Such a book is bound to be broad, especially when the field as a whole is considered. There are 80 million members of the Anglican Communion in 164 countries; geographically it is the most widespread denomination after Roman Catholicism. As well as being the largest Protestant denomination through the legacy of the British Empire it is also the most influential – through schools, welfare and other initiatives. Nevertheless, more than half of the countries in the Anglican Communion have never been in the British Commonwealth. There are 38 Primates, 500 dioceses, 30,000 parishes and 65,000 congregations. There are four Uniting Churches in full Communion with the Anglican Church, as well as the Porvoo Churches, and relations with Mar Thoma, China, the Philippines and Old Catholics of the Union of Utrecht. So a global survey of a worldwide Communion is no easy feat. And the editors are to be congratulated on a rich collection of essays that constitute a broad, rich volume that is comprehensive, detailed, inclusive and diverse.

It is perhaps no surprise that the latter half of the twentieth century has seen a significant rise and expansion in the study of Anglicanism. Where this was once a subject that was merely implicit in theological formation and education (especially for seminarians), various and more recent studies have since begun to focus more explicit attention on a variety of issues. In Britain this has included Stephen Sykes on authority and identity; W. S. F. Pickering on the sociology of Anglo-Catholicism; with Paul Avis, Mark Chapman and others on theological particularity. In the USA and elsewhere, a number of centres have been developed in seminaries and universities to explore Anglican polity from a variety of perspectives, moving beyond historical, ecclesiological and doctrinal concerns to embrace contextual and congregational studies. Anglicanism has thereby emerged as a vantage point (albeit contested) for studying classic Christian themes (i.e., sacraments, ecumenism, etc.), as well as a subject to be studied in its own right, in which the focus is primarily inter-disciplinary and phenomenological (i.e., studies of congregations, etc.). Courses on Anglicanism are now often taken by those outside the tradition; something that this volume will be able to richly support for those embarking on such study.

In this brilliant and ground-breaking volume the editors have elected to follow a traditional and classical strategy in the organizing and marshalling of their material. Proceeding from a confessional and historical ordering of material which has been adopted by earlier similar volumes on Anglicanism (e.g., history, authority, method, practice, etc.), The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion offers its material in a slightly different and more thematic way, allowing each writer to bring their own perspectives to questions of origin, development, church life, authority and the like, but all serving the dominant shape of the organizing paradigm, namely a survey of the Anglican Communion. Thus, the first section attends to history, the second section to the structures of the Communion, the third section (and to some extent, the most original and valuable) to a survey of the global Communion, continent-by-continent (with few, if any countries excluded), before a final fourth section looks at themes. This last section is also refreshingly original, with new work covering music, preaching, spirituality and inter-religious dialogue, jostling for attention amongst the more familiar themes that touch on sexuality, liturgy and theology.

Particular highlights include the essays on Melanesia, South India, Sudan, Southern Africa, Cuba, Korea and Japan. It is excellent to see that two archbishops – Hong Kong and Wales – have given us beautifully crafted essays that explore and explain Anglicanism in their respective contexts. Superb essays on colonization (Robert Heaney), the Church of England (Mark Chapman), Ireland (Robyn Neville) and Canada (Alan Hayes) burnish a volume that is already bursting with brilliance.

In conclusion, what is so rich and rewarding about The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion is that it moves us away from merely being a traditional set-piece account of Anglicanism from one or more perspectives, to an agenda-setting volume which will make a substantial contribution to the vigorous debate about the nature of Anglicanism as a distinctive Christian culture in the twenty-first century. This then opens up further possibilities for studying the polity, history, doctrine, ecclesiology and practice of the Communion – especially in its multifarious contexts. To commend and congratulate the editors on such a comprehensive volume seems a rather tame note on which to conclude this review. So it seems more appropriate, therefore, to close with some of the concluding words in Robert Heaney's fine essay, that in some respects capture the aspirations of this discerning and distinguished volume, and indeed gather up one of the hopes of our global Communion: