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An American friend of mine, when visiting these islands said; "I have never seen so many piles of old rock in the one place!" This was not a disparaging remark but simply a jocular remark on my fascination with ruined Abbeys. It implied, also, that I had taken him to see rather too many "piles of old rocks" during the course of his visit. Had I sent to him this book beforehand perhaps he would have been more forgiving of my addiction.
The author has divided the Abbeys and Monasteries into four main chapters under the headings: The Benedictines, The Augustinians, The Cistercians and; The Premonstratensians, The Cluniacs and The Carthusians. This is extremely useful if one has a particular interest in a particular Monastic Order but is a little less useful as a travel guide although there is a very useful 'colour-coded' map included.
The introduction provides a useful, if brief, history of monasticism in this island. Each subsequent chapter deals with the main orders, their history, development and demise. These details are necessarily brief as the book is, unashamedly, devoted to photographs of various Abbeys and what beautiful photographs they are. Every page has a colour image and shows that Derry Brabbs is a photographer of some skill. Whist the text is most interesting and useful it is the photographs that make this book. The format is 'landscape' and the author/photographer has used this too great effect. His use of 35mm film in that format demonstrates that he not only has an 'eye' for a good photograph but is acquainted with the more technical aspects of his art. If I sound as if I know something of such matters that is probably due to the fact that my wife is, by occupation, a photographer!
There is one major criticism, and that will be unsurprising given that this is a Scottish Website, there is very little regarding Scottish Abbeys and Monasteries. Only five are mentioned: Melrose, Dryburgh, Jedburgh, Sweetheart and Iona. Serious omissions include, Dundreddan Abbey (where Mary, Queen of Scots stayed before her fatal journey to England), Dunfermline Abbey (where Robert the Bruce's body is buried - his heart is at Melrose Abbey) and St Andrews Abbey (once the premier ecclesiastical centre for Scotland). There are many others that are worthy of consideration. This presents a major disadvantage to those who are interested in Scotland, its history and, in this instance, its Abbeys. Perhaps, one day, the author will bring his undoubted talents to bear on the numerous Scottish Abbey ruins and thereby make this photographic examination of these fascinating ruins complete.
There can be no doubt that the above criticism is a grave flaw in such a book. It is almost as if the five Scottish sites have been included in order that the word 'Britain' might be used on the fly-leaf. That said this book, insofar as it deals almost exclusively with English Abbeys, is highly recommended. Anyone who likes looking at "piles of old rocks" will find this book to be a visual delight. Whether one physically visits the Abbeys described this book (and if you take it with you please take measures to protect it!) or are an 'armchair traveller' then I am sure that every reader will find this book to be both informative and a visual 'feast'. In that sense it must be highly recommended.