This substantial volume is made up of sixty-five articles arranged under four headings: ‘History’; the ‘Structures of the Communion’; the ‘Provinces' (grouped geographically as Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania, Europe, Extra-Provincial to Canterbury, North America and South America); and a final thematic section. The fifty-seven authors are drawn from across the Communion; they include clergy and bishops, academics, theological educators and canon lawyers; eight are women. The work, as described by the authors, is intended ‘to provide a definitive reference work on the communion … that captures the remarkable way that Anglicanism has adapted round the globe’ (pp. xxiii–xxiv).

The first three, historical, articles explore the development of the Anglican Communion. Gregory Cameron's ‘Locating the Anglican Communion in the history of Anglicanism’, Titus Presler's ‘History of mission in the Anglican Communion’ and William Sachs's discussion of the ‘emergence of the Anglican Communion in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries’ illuminate the processes of mission, colonisation, indigenisation and independence which gave rise to the Anglican Communion as it exists today. Cameron argues that the Anglican ‘tradition’ has been diverse from the beginning; Presler observes that without mission there would have been no Anglican Communion; while Sachs identifies the loss of an ‘Anglican consensus’ which has left the Communion vulnerable. The essays suffer from a certain lack of historical precision. Thus Cameron implies that the English Church broke from Rome in 1530 (p. 4), Presler dates the break to 1536 (p. 16), but in fact the Act of Supremacy was passed in 1534; Presler thinks Tyndale was executed ‘by the English Church’ (p. 17); and both Cameron and Presler omit to mention that the first American bishop was consecrated by the bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church (pp. 7, 21).

Notwithstanding Sachs's conclusion that, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, ‘The future of the Communion seemed in doubt’, the second section considers the structures of the Anglican Communion. Norman Doe's overview of the instruments of unity and communion covers not only the archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates meeting, but also canon law and the Anglican Communion Covenant; it includes a useful summary of the common understanding of law revealed by the canon law project. Nancy Carol James reviews the role of the archbishop of Canterbury (with a list of all the holders of the post to date – although the column of names is misleadingly headed ‘dioceses created’); J. Robert Wright discusses the emergence of the Book of Common Prayer in the sixteenth century; Robert W. Prichard considers the Lambeth Conferences, focusing on their deliberations on mission, ecumenism, theology, liturgy and ethics; Samuel van Culin and Andrew Bennett Terry present the work of the Anglican Consultative Council and the Anglican Communion Networks; and Andrew Goddard tracks the development of the Anglican Communion Covenant. Neither Goddard nor Doe remark on the uneven reception of the Covenant across the Communion.

The bulk of the volume is made up of forty-one articles covering the Provinces of the Anglican Communion (pp. 135–552). These vary in approach and in length. Thus essays in the ‘Africa’ section range from three pages, on the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean and the Anglican Church of Kenya, to seventeen pages on the Anglican Church of Tanzania and nineteen on the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). The best essays offer a historical introduction, revealing the complexity of Anglican origins, consider ‘the story of the contemporary church’, present notable leaders, and discuss contemporary issues facing the province; some are more historically focused; and others contain little more information than that found on the Anglican Communion website. The articles show provinces across the Communion facing challenges around theological education, better integration of young people into the Church, poverty and social injustice, stewardship, and questions of Church-State relationships. In some articles the question of human sexuality is not mentioned at all (Burma, Sudan and Nigeria, although the theme is a subtext throughout the article); others witness to tensions on these questions within Provinces (Ceylon, Brazil, Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, England, and Scotland); yet others present an unambiguous rejection of homosexuality (Ruanda, Tanzania), or support for the rights of LGBT people in the Church (USA). There are some odd inaccuracies (for instance, the Church of Wales is a signatory, not to Meissen but to Reuilly [p. 461]). Several authors identify a continuing ‘dominant Anglo-Saxon culture’ and the need to address this in order ‘to create a less divisive and a more integrated communion’ (p. 371). These articles offer rich resources for the study of the Anglican Communion and the ways in which Anglican provinces have been shaped by – but also helped to shape – the cultures and contexts in which they emerged. They have, however, been produced to varying scholarly standards.

The final section addresses key themes. Justyn Terry's discussion of ‘theology in the Anglican Communion’ focuses on early modern English theology. Michael Nazir-Ali offers a wide-ranging assessment of ecumenical relations; William Bradley Roberts discusses music, noting the variety of ways in which the more Anglican musical tradition has interacted with local musical culture, and observing the power of music to unite or divide. Nancy Carol James considers the role of liturgy, including the liturgical developments of the twentieth century; George Carey analyses Anglican preaching, with a strongly Anglo-Saxon focus. Writing on the role of women, Janet Trisk concludes that many women ‘are still aliens in their own household’ (p. 625). Godfrey Mdimi Mhogolo shows how Anglican attitudes have changed on divorce, contraception and polygamy, and criticises ‘the lack of deep theological and hermeneutical engagement in dealing with the theology of human sexuality’ (p. 641); his own position remains unclear. Leon P. Spencer assesses theological education, emphasising both the importance of a good grounding in theology and biblical studies, and the need to ‘“excite” the people of God to advance God's mission’ (p. 654). Ian S. Markham discusses interreligious relations, pointing to the need to establish ‘systems and mechanisms for conversation’ (p. 664). Grant LeMarquand traces the globalisation of the Anglican Communion: he concludes that ‘the population of the trajectory of the communion is still moving in a southward direction’ (p. 674), which has implications for definition and self-understanding of the Communion. Timothy J. Dakin calls the Anglican Communion to the ‘strategic work of becoming missionary’ (p. 677), and explores some of the ecclesiology implications of this approach. Julian Linnell considers cross-Communion organisations, such as mission and Bible societies. Elizabeth Hoare reflects on spirituality, ‘a human life transformed by grace’ (p. 724). Robert S. Heaney argues that Anglicans have viewed colonisation both ‘as providential and as heresy’, suggesting that a ‘critically post-colonial’ Communion is now needed (p. 736). In a final chapter, Mark D. Thompson assesses the emergence and the significance of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON).

This is a wide-ranging volume, with articles written from a range of positions, some presenting a much more nuanced and well-substantiated assessment than others. The volume is uneven in standard: the inaccuracies identified above, although occasional, suggest a lack of editorial rigour which is reflected in a lack of standard practice throughout, from the list of contributors to the length and content of individual essays. The editors include a brief preface, but there is no introduction, which would have offered them the opportunity to explain their methodology and the principles according to which the essays were commissioned. Inevitably, given the current situation of the Anglican Communion, there is a sense of provisionality. All this sits uncomfortably with the editor's claim to have provided ‘a definitive reference work on the communion’. This is a valuable (albeit expensive) resource for anyone working on the Anglican Communion, but it is not strictly a reference work, and will need to be used with care.