Summary: The Anglican Communion encompasses a wide variety of traditions and expressions, from extremely liberal to very conservative, and from the Anglo-Catholic to the Evangelical. It's to this book's credit that editor William Wolf and his contributors acknowledge this diversity from the start, and admit that, as Harvey H. Guthrie begins his essay, 'What "Anglican" means is hard to define.'
The key to understanding Anglicanism lies in the Book of Common Prayer, and in the fact, as contributor John E. Booty writes, 'the Church of England [places] corporate worship, including sacraments, before doctrine.' Admittedly, this is precisely one of the major criticisms other denominations level at Anglicanism. But here it is celebrated as a distinctive.
I first read this book back when I was an Episcopalian, and was looking for a deeper understanding of my tradition's approach to spirituality. From that standpoint, this book's primary benefit -- apart from its comprehensive historical approach -- was in pointing me back to the Book of Common Prayer. 'Anglican Spirituality' is not a how-to handbook for Anglicans seeking spiritual insights. It can, however, place Anglican spirituality in its historical and theological context. I would recommend this as part of a program of reading, including the Book of Common Prayer and Holloway's 'The Anglican Tradition' (which I've also reviewed), but would be reluctant to encourage the relative neophyte -- as I was -- to use this book as his sole reference.