Goddard had fewer than four months to research and write the book and acknowledges that his conclusions and judgments are \u201cinitial [and] tentative\u201d\u009d (p. 8). Each chapter provides a summary of Williams\u2019s speeches, interviews, and sermons relevant to the topic at hand, along with commentary from Goddard and a handful of other individuals whom he interviewed. At times, the chapters feel like little more than lengthy quotations from Williams\u2019s own writing. This is no bad thing, however. To read Williams\u2019s original words in the context in which they were first delivered is refreshing. In any event, their complexity and depth defy easy summation. (At least two other books on Williams, Rupert Shortt\u2019s Rowan\u2019s Rule and Mike Higton\u2019s Difficult Gospel, similarly rely on lengthy quotations.)<\/p>\n
Goddard\u2019s tight writing schedule presents other problems, as it causes him occasionally to pass over significant moments too briefly. For instance, he mentions Williams\u2019s \u201chistoric meeting with [Zimbabwean President Robert] Mugabe\u201d\u009d (p. 144) but provides no additional information on what made it historic or why it was significant to Williams\u2019s ministry. These are judgments that a tight publishing deadline likely cannot accommodate.<\/p>\n
A larger disappointment is that the people Goddard interviewed to inform his judgments seem a limited lot. They are overwhelmingly male and from the Euro-Atlantic world.<\/p>\n