This book explores Archbishop Fisher's influence on major contemporary issues and events, including divorce-law reform, capital punishment at home, the end of Empire and the most dangerous years of the Cold War abroad. This new biography establishes the continuing significance not only of the office of Archbishop in the Church but also of the Church at large in the tumultuous world of the later twentieth century. A final section of original source material includes letters, sermons and other writings bringing vividly to life the range and character of Fisher's public and private role.

Part I Life; Introduction duction: Out of the Ruins ...; Part I_Chapter 1 Formation, 1887-1932; Part I_Chapter 2 Chester and London, 1932-1945; Part I_Chapter 3 Archbishop of Canterbury, 1945-1961: The Church of England; Part I_Chapter 4 Church and Society, 1945-1961; Part I_Chapter 5 The Anglican Communion, 1945-1961; Part I_Chapter 6 Ecumenism, 1945-1961; Part I_Chapter 7 Church and State, 1945-1961; Part I_Chapter 8 The World's Tumult: Foreign Affairs, 1945-1961; Part I_Chapter 9 Retirement, 1961-1972; Part I_Chapter 10 Assessment; Part II Documents; Part II_Chapter 1 The Atomic Bomb; Part II_Chapter 2 A Step Forward in Church Relations; Part II_Chapter 3 Canon Law; Part II_Chapter 4 Artificial Insemination; Part II_Chapter 5 Church and State; Part II_Chapter 6 The Welfare State; Part II_Chapter 7 The Festival of Britain; Part II_Chapter 8 The Coronation Service; Part II_Chapter 9 The New World of the Church Commissioners; Part II_Chapter 10 Premium Bonds: The Small Lotteries and Gaming Bill; Part II_Chapter 11 The Suez Debate; Part II_Chapter 12 Death Penalty (Abolition) Bill; Part II_Chapter 13 Partnership in Industry; Part II_Chapter 14 Homosexual Offences and Prostitution; Part II_Chapter 15 APartheid and the Church in South Africa; Part II_Chapter 16 The Visit to Rome, 2 December 1960;

Andrew Chandler had published widely in the field of twentieth-century British and European history, with particular reference to the Church of England. His book, The Church of England in the Twentieth Century: The Church Commisioners and the Politics of Reform, was published in 2006.,
David Hein is a widely published scholar and an authority on Anglican and US history in the nineteenth and late twentieth centuries. His first, widely praised study of Archbishop Fisher was published in 2007.