"While we do not want to live in the past, there is a sense in which the past always lives on in us."

So says Sir Marcus Loane at the beginning of this tribute to those involved in marked changes in the history of the church.

Marcus Loane has that able biographer's touch of gathering all the essential information without swamping you with facts. These delightfully written biographical sketches enable us to see tipping points in our history. We can see both where we have come from - and also look forward to see what sort of people we should be. It includes: Aidan and Lindisfarne; John Wycliffe and the Lollards; Thomas Bilney and the English Reformation; George Whitefield and Gospel Revival; William Wilberforce and Evangelical Continuity; J.B. Lightfoot and New Testament Scholarship; Elizabeth Clephane and Hymnody.