Archbishop Justin Welby

Until his ordination in 1992, Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, as a successful senior executive finance officer within the multibillion dollar empire that is the oil industry for 11 years. "I drifted into it,” he told The Guuardian in July 2012, “because I couldn't get a job when I left university.” He ended up working for Elf in France on their international finance team, partly because they needed someone who could speak English, didn't know anything about anything and so could have a fresh view on the future of the French oil giant.

He turned out, in his words to be ‘reasonably good at it’ and ended up as group treasurer for Enterprise Oil PLC. Later he worked in the Niger Delta, where oil companies were involved in the wholesale exploitation of local communities, thus prompting years of violent civil conflict. Still only in his 20s, this was to be a turning point in his young life. He began to realise it was dirty business. Later, a number of his former colleagues were arrested for corruption. But the turning point came in a time of personal tragedy.

On his return from Africa in 1983, his seven-month-old daughter Johanna was killed in a car crash in France. "It was a very dark time for my wife Caroline and myself,” he said in interview, “but in a strange way it actually brought us closer to God. In 1987, he resigned from the oil industry and decided to become a priest. Since ordination, Welby has returned to Nigeria many times, working on justice and reconciliation.

Revd Dr Andrew Atherstone's book Archbishop Justin Welby: The Road to Canterbury. Gives you a short, lively and informative look at Welby's life from his formative years, education, and eleven year career in the oil industry to his ministry. As well as his theology and world view, there is a concise examination of his writings and how they inform his thinking.

This biography of Justin Welby, the 105th archbishop of Canterbury, traces the story of his life and ministry from his earliest years to the eve of his enthronement in March 2013.

The book examines his conversion to Christianity as a student at Cambridge University, his career as a treasurer in the oil industry and his meteoric rise through the ranks of the Church of England - as a rector in Warwickshire, director of international reconciliation ministry at Coventry cathedral, dean of Liverpool and bishop of Durham.

Andrew Atherstone is tutor in History and Doctrine, and Latimer research fellow, at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and has published widely on a number of Anglican personalities such as Charles Golightly (Oxford's Protestant Spy, Paternoster, 2007), and George Carey.

Based on extensive archival research, and interviews with the archbishop's friends and colleagues, this study analyses his formative relationships, leadership style and priorities for the church. It highlights Justin Welby's passion for evangelism, reconciliation and risk-taking, which mark a change of direction for the Anglican Communion.