Book of Common Prayer

Originally produced for the Church of England in the sixteenth century by Thomas Cranmer, who was burned at the stake upon the accession to the throne of the ardently Catholic Queen Mary, it contains the entire liturgy as first presented in English-as well as some of the oldest phrases to be used by modern English speakers.

The plays of Shakespeare, the Authorized version of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer, all produced in the late 16th/early 17th centuries, are the three dounding texts of the English nation and its language. It invaded the style of 17th-century p oets and even 19th century novelists like George Elliot.

The Book of Common Prayer is one of the most influential books in history. Brian Cummings tell its fascinating story, charting its spread from England to reach the world, and showing how the book has divided conformity from non-conformity, in social terms as well as religious, from birth to marriage to death.

A celebration of the 350th anniversary of the publication of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, underlining its current and continuing relevance.