Robert Runcie: The Reluctant Archbishop

by Humphrey Carpenter

This is a biography of the 102nd Archbishop of Canterbury, including Runcie's opinions on major incidents of his tenure and presents a portrait of the man himself and the Church of England today.

401 pages, Hardcover

First published July 3, 1997

About the author

Humphrey William Bouverie Carpenter was an English biographer, writer, and radio broadcaster. He is known especially for his biographies of J.R.R. Tolkien and other members of the literary society the Inklings. He won a Mythopoeic Award for his book The Inklings in 1982.

Reviews

[Matthew Eyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating account of the life of a man clearly destined for eminence in some field. Very good on his early life, war service and family. Perhaps, after all, being AB of C is "the impossible job" Runcie certainly tried very hard to keep Anglicanism relevant in an ever more secular world. I think such people should be praised. When we look at the current fad for lionising the Trumps, Bolsanaros and Putins of this world, and overlooking their complete and utter disregard for anything approaching truth, it is refreshing to read of a man who never stopped trying to define what it means to live a religious life.

[Kath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read although coming from a non conformist background I found the accounts of the Anglican clergy training process, attitudes and hierarchy in the hallowed circles quite shocking. Definitely a certain sort of intellectual clique which hopefully is no more.
There were gossipy paragraphs about Terry Waite, Margaret Thatcher and Charles and Diana as well as some foraging inside the Runcies' own marriage.
The style was a little untidy; written as the information was gathered. I feel it could have been better edited.