This volume, as the title indicates, covers the British Isles over an immensely complex era. The period began with an inheritance little envisioned in the waning decades of the nineteenth century. On the positive side, the 1910 Edinburgh World Missionary Conference at once epitomized the fact of Christianity's actual globalization and harbingered those ecumenical efforts that were to focus a great deal of its energy in the ensuing years. Negatively, of course, the Great War of 1914–1918 presaged not only the failure of imperialism but also marked the end of Christendom. At the end of the period, on the verge of the twenty-first century, Christianity appeared variously becalmed, if not confused (among the mainline traditions engaged in the ecumenical endeavor), militantly un-confused (among fundamentalists), or irrelevant (at least in societies affected by secularization). Much happened in between these two poles and Robbins's opus is, of course, not as limited as its highly focused geographical scope might at first blush appear, since it is something of a toss-up as to which form of English-speaking Christianity—British or American—had more play in the world during the twentieth century.

That said, a number of matters bear early attention. Robbins is quite aware that he has a difficult task to perform. At once he must deal with a pluriformity of traditions while being constrained to call the study a history of “the Church.” This makes the relatively short preface mandatory reading for ecclesiological assumptions. In the introductory chapter, “New Century, Old Faith,” the author nearly seamlessly weaves into his discussion the necessary methodological considerations that will serve throughout to make the work cogent or help readers better understand issues, such as the religious aspects of the so-called “Irish question,” or the intricacies of establishment/disestablishment, whether in England, Wales, or Scotland. While Robbins's approach is chronological, the attention given to the multi-faceted political, religious, socio-economic, and demographic considerations of each division are intricately woven and the threads of the discussion clear enough to be recognized when they appear subsequently. At the same time he manages in the multiple subsections of each chapter to include discussion of the range of traditions from Roman Catholic and Anglican to Presbyterian, Methodist, and Free Church (and how these get further nuanced in the period itself) as well as the issues which exercised them internally or influenced them externally.

The scope of the book can easily be seen in a brief rehearsal of its subsequent chapters: the Crisis of Christendom (1900–1914); Just War [a nice pun] (1914–1918); Post-War Dislocations (1919–1931): Modernity and “Modernism”; Global Politics: Self-Determination and a “Christian” Empire; “Christian Civilization” in Jeopardy (1933–1953); the Perils of Prosperity (1953–1975); and, finally, Pluralism's Puzzles (1976–2000). Robbins has an impressive command of the traditions; he knows the dramatis personae involved (whether individuals or groups) and has done immense research across the boards. A helpful feature of the work in this regard is that the notes (succinct and to the point) helpfully appear at the bottom of the pages rather than at the end of the chapters.

The author's prose is lively and engaging, and it exhibits a sense of irony and wit that leaves no tradition or ethnicity (his own included) unscathed. A few random samples may suffice. In noting Prime Minister David Lloyd George's attendance upon the young Winston Churchill's wedding and his signing of the register as a witness, Robbins laconically remarks of the Prime Minister, “He no doubt listened to the injunction [of the marriage rite] to forsake all others with a certain detachment” (76). And again, while discussing the vagaries of the temperance movement in the early decades of the century among the various countries involved, he comments, “The Scottish temperance movement was vigorous, as it needed to be” (59). Finally, in an ex post facto observance of the naiveté of certain pre–World War II pacifists in the churches, Robbins sets forth Regius Professor Charles Raven's optimistic claim that “the most virile young men at his university would go to prison rather than go into the army.” If that had been so, says Robbins, “the army might not have had any Cambridge recruits” (239). Other examples that will sustain reader attention and interest abound (including one in regard to the then Cardinal Ratzinger and ecumenism, 428), but it will be well to leave the more contemporaneous twits to be discovered by others.

The book features a section of maps at the beginning that set forth Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Presbyterian geography in the period. Penultimately, a concise “Select Bibliography” is offered, referring readers to the notes for more extensive indications. And, at last, there is a useful index.

Overall this tome is a worthy addition to the series of which it is a part. Those who teach religion or the Church in history at university, college, or seminary will find it indispensable. An initial perusal or an in depth reading will probably be followed by its use as a reference, and libraries will, therefore, want to have it. Seminarians and graduate students will find it pricey even by today's standards, but, again, for those who need to know, it is a must.