Europe’s 100 Best Cathedrals, Simon Jenkins, Penguin Books Ltd, 2021, 360pp., £30, ISBN: 978-0-241452-63-9.

Ever leafed through one of the visitor books found in many of our churches and read the comments? ‘Very peaceful’, ‘Lovely’, ‘Beautiful’, and similar well-meaning but bland observations are typical. Coming up with something more meaningful isn’t easy. In these insightful, elegant vignettes, Simon Jenkins makes finding the exact words look effortless. He has previous of course. England’s Thousand Best Churches (1999) and England’s Thousand Best Houses (2003), not forgetting England’s Cathedrals (2016). This book will no doubt attract some of the same criticisms of the earlier works: the arbitrary marketing peg of ‘100 Best’. Why not 99 or 102? In the snootier corners of academia, it might be dismissed as glorified Trip Advisor. It is so much more than that. Each description is a concise and well-informed illumination of the essence of buildings that collectively m ake up, Jenkins declares, ‘humankind’s greatest achievements’. 

Of the 100, 15 British cathedrals make the cut. France is most represented with 25. There are obvious choices: Chartres; Cologne; St Mark’s, Venice; San Vitale, Ravenna; Sagrada Familia, Barcelona; Wells; Winchester; Canterbury. And an occasional surprise. I was delighted to find Torcello, a personal favourite, included. Are there any omissions? We will all have our own particular preferences but there is little to argue with here.

Lavishly illustrated, this is a reminder of familiar places and an introduction to magnificent new sites to be explored. Entries set their subject in its architectural and historical context; technical details are coherent; and each is an inspirational gem entertainingly presented. 

Whether your pilgrimage is one of faith, architecture, art or history; whether you arrive as tourist or worshipper, or a mix of all of these, you will find a rewarding briefing in this splendid book.