Concerned here broadly with the period 1829-59, Professor Chadwick writes of the church's precarious position at the start of the period, and the problems of dissent; the Whig reform of the Church by the ministries of Peel and Melbourne; the Oxford Movement, the influence of Newman and the development of ritual; the relations of church and government under Lord John Russell; the growth of the seven principal dissenting bodies; the theory and practice of Church and State at mid-century, and the troubles that arose over eucharistic worship; and finally the unsettlement of faith and the several attempts at restatement at the close of the period. The history is completed in The Victorian Church, Part II 1860-1901. ""One of our liveliest and most learned historians . . . he has written the most instructive, trustworthy and enjoyable history of the subject that has ever appeared."" The Sunday Times ""This is an amazing book, notable for conveying factual information in a form which commends and compels intense interest throughout."" The Times Educational Supplement ""The Style of this brilliant book lies not in its treatment of the ideas of the greatest but in a full-blooded portrayal of English religion in its totality . . . A work of magisterial scholarship, presented with the art of the literary craftsman, it will serve both as a guide and a quarry for students of modern ecclesiastical history for many years to come."" The English Historical Review ""Professor Chadwick is to be warmly praised for both these volumes, a fitting monument to one of the most remarkable periods in the history of Western Religion."" Downside Review Reverend Professor Owen Chadwick is a renowned Christian scholar and church historian. He is a former Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge and also served as Vice-Chancellor of the University. He also served as Master of Selwyn, College Cambridge from 1956-1983. Chadwick is an ordained Anglican Priest and was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1982.