Maggie Kilbey paints the period 1760 to 1870 as one which, when studied with hindsight, was undergoing constant and occasionally seismic change, which contemporaries experienced with unease and an air of lament. These changes were felt at the level of the parish church, and especially in the music which was, by this point, central to the worship of congregations, certainly in Hertfordshire though undoubtedly elsewhere too. Kilbey provides a fascinating and very valuable way of demonstrating how people at different stages of the lifecycle interacted with the parish church, and with the music used there. One particularly significant contribution is her insights on the place of children in ‘music-making’, and in the debates and changes that took place during this period. Children appear as crucial pivot-points in the debates and struggles faced by congregations, and as central to the changes that some wanted to enact. Kilbey demonstrates how children responded to churches when they reached adulthood and, vitally, how adults responded based on their experiences as children. She also places children at the centre of the draw towards dissenting congregations, arguing that Dissenters’ hymns provided a key attraction particularly for young adults who had learnt hymn tunes in school and preferred to sing these rather than the psalm tunes used in parochial worship. In this, however, Kilbey sees the elite as having a particularly significant influence on the changes to parochial practice, though local clergy and bishops also exerted influence, with some successes. Turning to the central element of her work, Kilbey smoothly covers all elements of parochial music-making in the period, from the singing of Psalms and hymns, to organs and barrel organs, other instrumental accompaniment, singing classes and charity schools. Kilbey does slip into the (nevertheless well-worn) trap of focusing on music as a historical event, as opposed to interacting with the music itself. It would have been nice to see her offer some insights into significant changes which are seen in the music of the period, from the tunes to the words, or a detailed comparison of metrical Psalms with the newly composed hymns, to consider whether the music itself offers insights into why the popularity of the former waned while the latter increased. In spite of this, Kilbey portrays a fascinating picture of parish worship. She presents it as filled with passionate, talented, enthusiastic members, though many of them found themselves struggling against tides and changes which they could neither have foreseen nor fully understood how to counter. The various stages of change are discussed well, and she presents a population rarely content with the methods of music-making used in worship, or the standards of music which they encountered. Kilbey's work is a clear, thoroughly researched and persuasive study of the vital sphere of ‘music-making’ in the parishes of Hertfordshire during this period.