Angels: A History

The review that prompted me to buy the book was illustrated with colourful images. I'd planned the book as a gift, so gave it away without reading much of it.

Peter Stanford has written a clear, readable and entertaining history of the ways in which the angelic hierarchies have been imagined and pictured; he describes the varying roles these beings have played in Jewish, Christian and Islamic scriptures. He writes most interestingly about angelic symbolism in the art of medieval and Renaissance Europe, and about present-day indifference to this whole cosmology within what we might call "mainstream" religious institutions.His book, however, begins with an account of his meetings with contemporary author Lorna Byrne, who has written best-selling books about her alleged angelic encounters. And quite near the beginning he says, "Angels are, for a sizeable minority, part of the present." So I suppose I was hoping for a little more attention to those who claim to work with angels (and devas, of whom there is no mention) now. As often, such people are passed over with a bit of a wave of the hand as "new age" (i.e. flaky). However, there is a not inconsiderable western esoteric tradition which feeds directly into the streams Lorna Byrne and others like her navigate. Granted you can't mention everything, but the author of "Meditations on the Tarot", for instance (who has much to say about angels) was hardly a lightweight. So I enjoyed this book as a well-crafted "authorised history", but I feel there's more that could be said.

answered a few wonderings about angels very interestng and well researched

Really interesting

I bought this book after attending a Warwick History Festival event at which Peter Stanford was speaking. His talk proved lively, engaging and full of fascinating information. Having read his book, I found it a very scholarly and sometimes quite dense survey of references to angels at all historical stages of a number of world faiths and spiritual outlooks, from centuries before the Christian era, right up until the present day, with the interest in angels ever popular through folk religion and other spiritual outlooks.Peter Stanford uncovers much intriguing material, and also includes an examination of the appearance of angels in great art. Throughout he maintains an objective, academic approach which he combines with his own views.I was particularly interested in his observation that formerly angels were seen as within orthodox religious structures but then reached a stage where they became 'independent agents', outside traditional faith structures.As Stanford says, 'People have... believed in angels for millennia... the only difference today is that this reliance on angels as dwellers in time and space is happening outside of organised religion... Angels once... largely belonged in religious narratives and institutions... but... have somehow detached themselves from the declining institutions and are now thriving on their own.'At the end of the book Stanford remarks: 'I have lost count while researching and writing the book of how many times I have been asked if I "believe" in angels.' I found this quite amusing, and indeed he did answer the question at the end of his talk.A highly recommended book for all sorts of readers: those who do believe in angels, and those interested in a historical study of world faiths and spiritual outlooks. I would suggest even psychologists would find much fascinating raw material here too.

I bought this book because, fourteen years ago, ‘I met an angel’ in adverse circumstances - the sort of encounter regularly alluded to in this fascinating examination of the special place angels have in our psyche! What appealed to me most (as one who has been ‘enlightened’) is how Peter Stanford reconciles the ‘putative’ existence of these eternal beings with religious creeds. His trawl through biblical texts and religious writings, at times slightly ‘bookish’, does nothing to diminish the nice distinction he makes between religious adherence and what, for many, would be the fantasy of myth. For all that, it all streams elegantly to a lovely conclusion - and his epilogue sums up (it touched me!) the religious/human divide. But the concept of a ‘guardian angel’ is something a great many of us would like to hold on to! Ps I’m off now on my bike to have a peek at the offering of St Mary’s Church, South Creake ( referred to so eloquently in the Epilogue! )

This is a fascinating account of some of the most elusive creatures in Hebrew, Christian and Muslim scriptures. Stanford, our most erudite and readable popular theologian, explores the nature and depiction of angels from their earliest appearance in Zoroastrian and Jewish religion through to their most recent incarnation in New Age spirituality. He interpolates his explorations with a charmingly irreverent A to Z of angels in popular culture and includes a welcome account of the place of angels in his own spiritual life. Stanford is particularly good on the place of angels in Christian art and the book is lavishly illustrated. An authoritative account that will engage believers and sceptics alike.

Very interesting read.