Thank you, Stuart Coulton, for making church history interesting, even entertaining! No, history is not ‘bunk’, despite Henry Ford’s famous claim. We know it’s important, says the author, providing a context that warns and teaches us, and tools with which to critique our own culture and values, attitudes and ideas. Each chapter of this book contains a relevant timeline, description of a key location, some photos, the story of what happened and some significant figures in the period being considered, and – to me, most interesting of all - some profound and challenging ‘reflections’ on the period, raising topics such as caring for creation, the true nature of the church and the centrality of grace. The only exception came in Chapter 16, where the ‘reflections’ were replaced by ‘Why I would like to have a beer with Luther’! That’s fairly typical of the humorous tone of much of the book! I found it all interesting, but especially Chapters 8 (Iona, Lindisfarne and Celtic Christianity), 12 (the Crusades) and 13 (monasticism). In his introduction, the author invites us on a ‘journey’, and in the epilogue he extols the value of travel. Well, his book has ‘opened up the pages of history’ for me, and I almost feel as if I’ve travelled to the places he describes. That’s a good feeling. But the author will achieve his aim if his book helps me to ‘reflect carefully about what it means to follow Christ.’ That’s his prayer. That, he says, is ‘a very good thing.’