AMAZING GRACE:
A Cultural History of the Beloved Hymn
By James Walvin
University of California Press.
197 pages. £14.45
ISBN 978 0 520 391 826
What do a small congregation in rural Buckinghamshire, the cotton fields of the Deep South, Judy Collins, and the ill-fated march on the Capitol building in Washington on 6 January 2021, have in common? The answer lies in John Newton’s majestic hymn, Amazing Grace.
In this volume, James Walvin, Professor of History Emeritus at the University of York, has provided us with an illuminating history of this much-loved and universally acclaimed hymn.
