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Average Customer Rating:

Fascinating subject and well written book

Customer Rating:

I'm no church historian and not religious in any way, but I found this book totally absorbing and fascinating as an explanation of the imagery and decoration found in churches. I found the book by accident, borrowed an old paperback copy to read and then decided to treat myself to this beautiful version which has many more photos and illustrations to help you see what Dr Taylor is describing. The book covers all sorts of information about the saints, carvings, pictures and symbols you might see in a church, their stories and what the images may have meant to the people making them or looking at them in a time when most people couldn't read. The book is very easy to read and quite fascinating. There is also a list of saints, their stories and the ways they can be recognised in pictures/carvings and there is a useful glossary of terms. These make the book perfect as a reference as well as great to read as a whole. I've rarely been tempted to write to an author in praise of a book (and I've read a lot!), but this was an exception. My only small gripe is the lack of explanation of non-Christian symbols and carvings in churches (green men, woodwoses, little pagan figures etc) that often crop up in early church designs before we were 'fully integrated' :-)

Great pictures - less background data

Customer Rating:

My view of the book is that the pictures are beautiful and it has a lot of content, but I would have preferred more details on the different subjects. Mostly only the explanation according to the christian belief is described, but since the christian churches' symbols are a mix of its own symbols and those of the previous religions, I feel there is a lot more to be said about the symbols than just this. I bought this book because of my interest in gargoyls and on this subject I think the explanation was a little "light".

Disappointing

Customer Rating:

This book is a well known so I made the mistake of buying on line without checking the contents. It's full of arcane items that most churches don't contain, and misses out so many things that can be found in churches everywhere that people ask questions about -- e.g. no mention of aumbries or lights in the index. It is more like a stuffy text book than a reference book. There is a gap in the market for a simpler book that is less comprehensive and therefore more accessible. Thank heavens for the Amazon returns service.

useful reference	Customer Rating:
A useful reference book for the vistor to churches who wants to know more.

How to read a church

Customer Rating:

The book has been written by a commited Christian, and several beliefs are stated as 'though they are facts- e.g."God guided the Israelites towards the Red Sea in a pillar cloud by day......" I personally do not accept this. Instead of concentrating on symbols, the author has taken the opportunity of paraphrasing,sometimes at length, many stories and other text from the Bible. Some of the author's text is too egocentric e.g."(St.Lawrence's) jokes are a little rough for today's tastes." Has the author ever read Viz? This is a "nice" book for "nice" people and the range of subject matter is too limited.