The Gothic Revival

Crosses, candles, choir vestments, sanctuary flowers, and stained glass are common church features found in nearly all mainline denominations of American Christianity today. Most Protestant churchgoers would be surprised to learn, however, that at one time these features were viewed as suspicious, foreign implements associated strictly with the Roman Catholic Church. Blending history with the study of material culture, author sheds light on the ironic convergence of anti-Catholicism and the Gothic Revival movement in nineteenth-century America.

Andrew Graham-Dixon looks back at 19th-century Britain and its obsession with all things Gothic.