THE LADY CHURCH PLANTER
Selina, Countess of Huntingdon
By Alan Harding. Epworth Press. 220 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978-0-7162-0611-8
This biography looks not just at the life and ministry of one of the major 18th-century revival leaders, but also at the influence of the Countess on the Church of England, the Free Churches and English society as a whole. Harding pays particular attention to the Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion group of churches, which still exists today. He published a monograph on this in 2003.
This well-written, concise book is half the size of Faith Cook’s biography written in 2001. Unlike many biographies, Harding sets Selina’s life and work in historical context, with brief chapters on the English church in the 18th century and on the evangelical revival. This is very helpful, and I would advocate other biographers similarly putting their subject in context.
