This is the first volume in the 'In Religion and Public Doctrine in Modern England' series of books. In this instance, Maurice Cowling stresses that the story of Christianity plays an integral part in the intellectual history of Modern England.
The author elaborates by describing what principles should be adopted when describing the intellectual history of Modern England and also by describing what role Christianity has played in the evolution of English philosophies.
Cowling provides a critique on the philosophies of Toynbee, T. S. Eliot, Collingwood, Butterfield, Oakeshott, David Knowles, Evelyn Waugh and Churchill.