The man who can trace his job description back through the office of Thomas Cranmer and all the way to St Augustine, leaves us more than just his record of employment. The deeply thoughtful theologian and scholar bequeaths to the Church and nation a body of written work worthy of such an accomplished and sensitive man.

His most recent offering, ‘Faith in the Public Square’, gives you a concise collection of his views and verdicts on issues that are – or should be, of immediate concern to all members and all levels the Church. Chapters include ‘Has Secularism Failed?’, ‘Changing the Myths We Live By’ and ‘The Economic Challenge’.

Many of his works, as you’d expect, are theological and academic. Yet one of his most highly acclaimed works also reflects on his greatest loves: The works of Dostoevsky. His book ‘Dostoevsky: Language, Faith and Fiction’, Rowan uses the writers narrative language and experiences in pre-Soviet Russia to examine the nature and purpose of religious belief.

Picking out just one of his theological books, ‘Silence and Honey Cakes’ draws its inspiration from the 4th century ‘desert fathers and mothers’. Contemplating how their spirituality resonates and inspires today's spiritual search, Rowan looks at various topics where the spirituality of the desert fathers and mothers informs our own attempts to live in community with each other and with God.

Theological works from an Archbishop might be taken for granted, even expected. Rowan Williams has delivered numerous volumes - dealing with the role of faith in addressing contemporary moral issues, and others examining the Church through the lens of history. One of his most recent historical works ‘Bede’s Ecclesiastcal History’, co-written with Benedicta Ward, shows how, even in the first millennium, Bede struggled with the question of how the Church relates to and serves the political and social order.

Alongside his works of the soul and mind, Rowan William’s legacy includes works of the heart. Rowan’s poetical works give you something of the man beneath the mitre. ‘Headwaters’ is Rowan Williams' third collection of poems written with subtlety, complexity and passion. They range widely in subject, place and mood. Now in the halls of Magdalene Cambridge, perhaps further volumes of Rowan’s artistic writings will follow.

Published to mark a significant anniversary of the works of C S Lewis, Rowan’s companion to C S Lewis’ of Narnia books, ‘The Lion's World’ is the essential addition to your bookshelf of Lewis’ collected works. With his trademark modesty, Rowan doesn’t overpower his subject but allows the stories to reveal the truths hidden in the well loved words.

Certainly, Rowan William’s legacy will be debated for a long time to come. Many will have their view of the man – what he has done and what he has left undone. But there can be no doubt that he leaves, and will no doubt continue to add to, a rich body of written work that’s a open treasure chest for Christians of all denominations. - Les Ellison

What impact has Rowan Williams had as an Archbishop, presiding over the Anglican Communion worldwide through one of its most turbulent periods? How has he coped with the huge issues he has faced - the growing pressure from some wings of the Church to allow gay clergy and women bishops, and the equal pressure from other wings, who find such ideas abhorrent? What about the Iraq war, Sharia Law, and the Credit Crunch? Andrew Goddard has talked to those around the Archbishop, to discover what it is like to live and work so much in the public eye.

In this objective and analytical record, we get also to see the man beneath the mitre: a scholar who would probably not have chosen to take on such a role. What sort of leader has he been, and what legacy does he leave to his successor? Will he prove to be the last Archbishop of Canterbury for a more or less united Church?

About the author:

Andrew Goddard is a speaker and writer on Christian Ethics, Associate Director of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics (KLICE), editor of the Anglican theological journal Anvil, a fellow of the Anglican Communion Institute and a member of the Church of England's Faith and Order Advisory Group. He is also a member of the Leadership Team of Fulcrum (renewing the Evangelical centre within the Church of England), the Board of Directors of the International Jacques Ellul Society and the Ethics Group of Grove Books.