This volume presents an important perspective in British religious history, that has hitherto been almost entirely overlooked – the role and impact of Wales, and the unique religious culture that is, and always has been, present in the principality. The volume examines religion and society in the geographically vast diocese of St Davids, which covers most of south Wales, extending as far north as Aberystwyth in the west, and Abergavenny and Llanthony in the east, with the exception of the small but densely populated diocese of Llandaff which encompasses the modern city of Cardiff and its environs.

Taking a broadly chronological approach, each chapter focuses on a specific period, taking its start and end date at significant points in national religious history. After an introduction by Gibson to the approaches and focuses used by the contributors, John Morgan-Guy opens proceedings with a chapter examining the Tudor years, 1485 until the reign of Mary i began in 1553; and a second chapter that examines the turbulent time between the Marian years and the eventual restoration of the Carolinian monarchy in 1660. Later on in the volume, William Gibson guides us through the growth and regeneration of the diocese from 1660 until 1730; Harri Williams examines the impact of disestablishment from the English Anglican Church in the nineteenth century; and William Price brings the story to its modern conclusion, examining the diocese and wider religious culture in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Each chronological chapter is interspersed with a thematic discussion that takes a wider period as its focus: Robert Pope examines theology and teaching practices in the diocese from 1534 to 2000; Eryn White presents an account of religious revivals over three hundred years and Mike Benbough-Jackson analyses the cult of St David throughout the period.

Taken together, all eight chapters present a cohesive and rich discussion of religious life in the British Isles from the Tudor period onwards, in the diocese of St Davids, and in the wider national context. The volume presents an important corrective to the woeful lack of scholarship and understanding of the unique nature of religion in Wales, across many denominations, and simultaneously, the critical part that Welsh religious culture played, and continues to play, in the wider story of religious culture across the British Isles. Given this, and the fact that many readers of the volume will not be familiar with many of the locations that are referenced, the volume is somewhat let down by a lack of illustrations, diagrams or maps. A map of the diocese, pointing out the three strategic locations of the cathedral at St Davids, the collegiate church in Brecon and the bishop's palace at Abergwili, as well as the myriad of other important locations, and administrative divisions such as parish boundaries, would have greatly helped the reader in associating the narrative with the wider national picture.

Similarly, Morgan-Guy draws attention to the survival of pre-Reformation material culture in church interiors at Tenby, Haverfordwest and Llandeilo Talybont, to name a few, all of which illustrate the vitality of the medieval Church so richly described by Eamon Duffy, suggesting strong links and influence between the Welsh Church and the wider continental medieval Church (pp. 18–22). These examples are vital new pieces of evidence in improving our understanding of the medieval Church on the eve of the Reformation, and illustrations of them would really have helped with this. Equally, illustrations of the iconography of St David, as discussed in great detail by Benbough-Jackson, which will be almost entirely unknown to readers who are unfamiliar with indigenous Welsh culture, would have greatly boosted discussions of the role of his saint culture in wider discussions of national religious identity.

Overall, this volume is a long overdue contribution to discussions of British religious culture, and a vital step in improving our understanding of the contributions of regional religious cultures to the overall national picture. Many of the surviving primary sources used by the authors are in the Welsh language, and are therefore translated and presented to the wider academic community for the first time through the chapters of this volume.