This is a richly illustrated "coffee-table" volume, which shows the breath and at times eclectic nature of the Library at Lambeth - with the influence of particular Archbishops shining through in its holdings.
As the book journeys from the early manuscripts to the modern archives of the likes of the Mothers Union you find that the interest shifts from the "afterlife" to the production or accumulation. That is to say that the "afterlife" of the manuscripts is the many and varied hands through which they passed over the centuries before finding their way to Lambeth. Yet for the archives it is the taleof the life of the organisation to which they belonged that is of real interest.
Is this a book only for starchy Anglicans? I think not - anyone with a board interest in English history would enjoy this because the Archbishops of Canterbury's place has been right at the heart of the English establishment (whether you like it or not). It would, I think, also appeal to the Art Historian.
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