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Peter Cornwell, Times Literary Supplement: Barry Spurr takes us on a wonderful journey to discover the byways, varieties, glories and contradictions of a brand of Anglicanism which, even in the 1950s, was potent, and he does a good deal to establish his main thesis that it was this particular faith and practice that formed 'the central element, the still point, in the poet's world picture informing all that he did in his creative work'. The Rt Revd Lord Harries, The Church Times The tone of the book is just what that of a good literary critic should be: appreciative, grateful, and generous, while at the same time not sparing in criticisms where it is due. C. Brad Faught, Anglican and Episcopal History Spurr's previous work on modernist poetry and on Strachey leaves him in an excellent position to take up Eliot's religion - Spurr is especially effective in recreating Eliot's own orthopraxis and the daily acts of devotion that defined his allegiance to Anglo-Catholicism - this book is almost surely the definitive study of Eliot's religion and superbly fills a lacunae in the fuller understanding of the poet's life that has existed for far too long. Ivan Head, Journal of Religious History Spurr has produced a scholarly and engaging book that sharpens and defines our understanding of Eliot's relationship with Christianity...It helps us to see Eliot as luminous within the great tradition. Henry Hart, Anglican Theological Review: Eliot once siad, I believe that all our problems turn out ultimately to be a religious problem (p.175). Spurr demonstrates convincingly that Eliot believed what he had said and also believed that his version of Anglicanism offered the best solution to those problems. Spurr's lucid, well-researched, judicious book should be prized by anyone who wants a better understanding of Eliot's complex religious views and the profound influence they had on his writings.

Peter Cornwell, Times Literary Supplement Barry Spurr takes us on a wonderful journey to discover the byways, varieties, glories and contradictions of a brand of Anglicanism which, even in the 1950s, was potent, and he does a good deal to establish his main thesis that it was this particular faith and practice that formed 'the central element, the still point, in the poet's world picture informing all that he did in his creative work'. The Rt Revd Lord Harries, The Church Times The tone of the book is just what that of a good literary critic should be: appreciative, grateful, and generous, while at the same time not sparing in criticisms where it is due. C. Brad Faught, Anglican and Episcopal History Spurr's previous work on modernist poetry and on Strachey leaves him in an excellent position to take up Eliot's religion - Spurr is especially effective in recreating Eliot's own orthopraxis and the daily acts of devotion that defined his allegiance to Anglo-Catholicism - this book is almost surely the definitive study of Eliot's religion and superbly fills a lacunae in the fuller understanding of the poet's life that has existed for far too long.

Peter Cornwell, Times Literary Supplement: Barry Spurr takes us on a wonderful journey to discover the byways, varieties, glories and contradictions of a brand of Anglicanism which, even in the 1950s, was potent, and he does a good deal to establish his main thesis that it was this particular faith and practice that formed 'the central element, the still point, in the poet's world picture informing all that he did in his creative work'. The Rt Revd Lord Harries, The Church Times The tone of the book is just what that of a good literary critic should be: appreciative, grateful, and generous, while at the same time not sparing in criticisms where it is due. C. Brad Faught, Anglican and Episcopal History Spurr's previous work on modernist poetry and on Strachey leaves him in an excellent position to take up Eliot's religion - Spurr is especially effective in recreating Eliot's own orthopraxis and the daily acts of devotion that defined his allegiance to Anglo-Catholicism - this book is almost surely the definitive study of Eliot's religion and superbly fills a lacunae in the fuller understanding of the poet's life that has existed for far too long. Ivan Head, Journal of Religious History Spurr has produced a scholarly and engaging book that sharpens and defines our understanding of Eliot's relationship with Christianity...It helps us to see Eliot as luminous within the great tradition. Henry Hart, Anglican Theological Review: Eliot once siad, I believe that all our problems turn out ultimately to be a religious problem (p.175). Spurr demonstrates convincingly that Eliot believed what he had said and also believed that his version of Anglicanism offered the best solution to those problems. Spurr's lucid, well-researched, judicious book should be prized by anyone who wants a better understanding of Eliot's complex religious views and the profound influence they had on his writings. Modernist Cultures, Vol 6, No 1, May 2011. Jeremy Diaper, University of Birmingham. Anglo-Catholic in Religion': T. S. Eliot and Christianity is a detailed and informative study [...] Spurr examines and elucidates 'the genesis, development and character of Eliot's Christianity and concludes that we cannot fully appreciate Eliot's work 'until we have learnt of his faith, the ground of his being. 'There can be no doubt about it...this study of T.S. Eliot and Christianity by Barry Spurr is quite the best book on the man and his work that has yet appeared.' Peter Milward, The Heythrop Journal, vol 52, issue 6, Nov 2011 ' Much has been said about Eliot's religion, and sometimes by scholars who are sympathetic to his belief, but what has been lacking is a comprehensive explanation of Anglo- Catholic history, doctrine, practice, and culture. That need is now met by Barry Spurr's Anglo-Catholic in Religion : T. S. Eliot and Christianity, and it is hard to imagine that anyone could have done this essential work better. The book is very welcome indeed...Having described Eliot's religious milieu, Spurr is able to explicate many of his writings in new and convincing ways...This is the kind of book that stimulates further work rather than foreclosing it.' Ben Lockerd in 'Time Present' No. 73 'Spurr attends patiently to the specificities of the Anglo-Catholic movement as they inform Eliot's work - aspects that scholars have tended to ignore or misunderstand... With aplomb, Spurr makes the comparatively subtle differences between Anglo-Catholicism in its early-twentieth-century heyday and contemporary Protestantism, Anglicanism, and Catholicism visible... The later narrative chapters are invaluable... Spurr offers a vivid portrait of Eliot's devotional life...[his] most compelling point may be his account of the emphasis of Anglo-Catholic devotion... Having established Eliot as a poet of the incarnation, Spurr descends into brilliant readings of Ash-Wednesday , The Rock, and Murder in the Cathedral, revealing their peculiar dependence on Anglo-Catholic practice. he draws out with precision the liturgical form of Eliot's poem of 1930... Most impressively, in his account of Murder, Spurr traces the origin of some of the play's language to The Book of Common Prayer... Spurr's fluent movement between discussion of Eliot's devotional life and literary work marks the particular achievement of his book'. James Wilson in Religion and Literature journal Vol. 43.3 (Autumn, 2011) 'Barry Spurr's book fills in all the details ... about the Anglo-Catholic movement in the English Church ... Spurr makes a very good case for taking greater notice of the language and forms of the Anglo-Catholic liturgy in readings of Eliot's poetry and plays ... This is now a largely forgotten history, and Spurr does well to remind us of what the Movement really stood for ... [He] is very good in teasing out the implications of this history for Eliot ... Spurr makes use of some new sources for this study, and in this respect he has new material to offer researchers in the area ... None have gone into the matter of [Eliot's] intense allegiance to Anglo-Catholicism to the same scholarly degree as Barry Spurr.' John Xiros Cooper in Journal of Historical Biography Vol.9 Literary critics and biographers of Eliot have often ignored his religious outlook. [ - ] Yet Spurr argues convincingly that it is impossible to understand Eliot without appreciating his Anglo-Catholicism, [ - ] Spurr's well researched and persuasively argued monograph is a welcome contribution to this growing corpus [ of studies that are putting theology back at the heart of historical and literary analysis]. Andrew Atherstone in Churchman No.1 Vol. 126, Spring, 2012. 'But the author emphasizes that while Eliot was a poet who was Anglo-Catholic, he was not an Anglo-Catholic poet, since most of his subject matter is not theological. Rather, his faith is subtly present in his poems - Spurr's study makes a valuable contribution to Eliot scholarship in that it clarifies the poet's approach to his faith which informs so much of his literary output.' Denise J. Stankovics in Today's American Catholic, April 2012

Author Information

Barry Spurr is Associate Professor of English Literature in the University of Sydney. He has published extensively on Renaissance and Modernist poetry, religious literature and liturgical language. He is the author of books on studying poetry, Lytton Strachey's prose, poetry about the Virgin Mary and Anglican and Roman Catholic liturgical language reform (The Word in the Desert, The Lutterworth Press, 1995).

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