George Morley's life spanned the latter parts of England's ‘long Reformation’: born towards the end of Elizabeth i's reign (the precise date is uncertain) and dying the year before the last Catholic monarch, James ii, came to the throne. Morley's name will be a familiar one to scholars of the Restoration, given his role in negotiating the king's return, the church settlement, and high politics and diocesan leadership in the 1660s and the 1670s. Andrew Thomson's book is nevertheless the first detailed examination of his life and work, helpfully considering both his national and his diocesan activity and setting it in the wider context of the period – Thomson is good at providing a concise summary of events for readers unfamiliar with the era. Thomson's main challenge is the difficulty of pinning down Morley's stance on some crucial issues. Sometimes willing to talk to nonconformists, Morley could seem open to rapprochement, yet at other points he expressed concern about the political threat of Dissenters, evoking memories of the Civil Wars. In 1662 he was linked to moves to soften the proposed Act of Uniformity, but opposed dispensing from it once it was passed. He neither systematically pursued Dissenters in Winchester, nor, despite his consistent anti-Catholic rhetoric, did he vigorously prosecute recusants. Thomson acknowledges the possibility of interpreting Morley's actions as deliberately duplicitous, though his own, cautiously-offered, conclusion, instead positions Morley's stance as pragmatic, preferring the Church of England, yet open to considering change, while recognising the strength of the Cavalier Anglican majority in parliament. He also takes care not to overestimate Morley's role. In the latter chapters of the book, he provides an analysis of Morley's work in Worcester and Winchester, portraying a conscientious bishop (so far as his work at court and in the House of Lords, and his health, permitted), who got administration revived after the wars, albeit no major reformer. (The book's conclusion strikes a more positive note than the chapters on this.) The list of benefactions is interesting, though it would have been helpful to know more about Morley's books. Although their typesetting needs some attention (the footnotes occasionally drift onto another page, for example on pages 46–7 and 115–16), Winchester University Press have made a useful work available to scholars.