This Journal does not usually review books other than first editions but Ecclesiastical Law is an exception because of its centrality as a text for the subject of English ecclesiastical law. The preface provides a checklist of developments since its predecessor was published in 2001, up to 1 May 2007. The main areas of rewriting relate to the new system of clergy discipline under the Clergy Discipline Measure and to the expanding case law in respect of the faculty jurisdiction. Deceptively, at 730 pages, the text has 31 pages fewer than the second edition. However, the commentary, which maintains both its clarity and its critical edge, has been expanded. On the other hand, the materials have been considerably pruned and the previous selection of cases replaced by a new, much smaller, group.

We have it on the best authority that the writings on ecclesiastical and canon law constitute Monuments of Endlesse Labours,Footnote ² and, as the writer of Ecclesiastes might have added, ‘of the making of new editions there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh’. The publication of a significant new book is likely to be acknowledged as an achievement establishing the writer's credentials. By contrast, revising an established textbook is a painstaking task without the same stimulus of discovering and shaping new materials. Although a new edition of such a book will be frequently read and will be in constant practical use, it will not normally receive the academic recognition of many papers, which, however readable, may remain largely unread in edited collections or learned journals. Updating such a book as this is therefore a public service that deserves the warm thanks of its readers.

Ecclesiastical Law is an essential tool for ecclesiastical lawyers, whether specialists (including chancellors and registrars) or practitioners who encounter only an occasional case in the area. Particularly because of its well-designed layout and because it includes within a single cover the core ecclesiastical legislation, it is an exceptional resource for anyone involved in church administration, whether ordained or lay. It also has invaluable potential as a student text for ordinands and for clergy undergoing in-service training, particularly in the early stages after ordination when they should be developing an awareness of the legal dimension to their ministry. A wider interest in the study of law and religion is resulting in new courses for law students, particularly as LLB final-year options. Although such courses tend to cast their net wider than the Church of England, Ecclesiastical Law is a valuable point of reference. It provides a reassuringly ‘black-letter’ dimension, which may have the incidental effect of helping students without any religious background to take faith seriously as an intellectual endeavour.

A recurrent problem for Hill is the selection of materials, particularly cases. The decision was made to provide only a small group of cases in this edition, all of which are new and in two instances difficult to obtain elsewhere. Non-lawyers who do not have ready access to a law library or to electronic sources may regret the omission of some earlier leading cases, but what has been included does provide good illustrations of the variety of case law relevant for the Church. Perhaps, however, there would now be a market for a printed volume of selected cases, with editorial comment, perhaps in loose-leaf format.