The office of Archbishop of Canterbury is the oldest continuous
institution in Britain - older than the English crown and much older
than Parliament. For over fourteen hundred years, from Augustine in the
6th century to Justin Welby in the 21st, successive Archbishops have
been caught up in the transformation of the country from a collection of
feudal Saxon kingdoms ruled by warrior kings to a modern industrial
state with a democratic parliament and an established Church - as well
as the longest reigning sovereign.Some Archbishops have managed the
tension between their responsibility to lead the Church and proclaim the
gospel and their obligation to serve the interests of the state and its
rulers. Others have lost their lives - three executed by the state,
while two have met violent deaths at the hands of lawless mobs.This new
Pitkin captures the story of their faith and power, wisdom and folly and
explores how high principle is matched at times by craven self-interest.
