J. M. Neale and the Quest for Sobornost

John Mason Neale (1818-1866), the famous Victorian divine, hymnologist, novelist, historian, and author of the carol `Good King Wenceslas', was also noted for his interest in ecunemism. This book traces Neale's interest in the Orthodox church, as expressed through his historical writings, translations of Greek hymns, and novels set in the Christian East. The work is based on a wide variety of manuscript and published sources for the subject, and demonstrates how this leading light in the Anglo-Catholic revival acted as an exemplary interpreter of Byzantium and Eastern Orthodoxy to the Victorian England of his day. In the context of the present time, when East-West relations are a topical suject, Neale's life and work provide a shining example of how two very different cultures and traditions might approach each other, with fruitful results for both.