History of Dorset Freemasonry Revealed 1736-2000 Published by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Dorset. Large format, 280 pages, illustrated.

To encompass almost 270 years of the history of a Province in a single volume is a major task. To do so and make the volume interesting and attractive might seem almost impossible. The Province of Dorset has achieved both.
    Sensibly the concentration has been on people, lodges, places and significant events rather than a chronological history. Events and people are placed in the context of their times, rather than as though Freemasonry existed in isolation and the whole has been sympathetically illustrated with excellent photographs by Brian G. Cotton.
    The volume is divided into sections covering early days, short histories of the lodges, the Provincial Grand Masters, a selection of notable personalities present and past, meeting places, banners, the Provincial Masonic Museum (well worth a visit), artefacts and the Royal Arch.
    What strikes about the personalities and lodge histories is the diversity of people involved during the various periods, showing Freemasonry to have always been a microcosm of life in the county, rather than the perception that we are always told the public has of it being a middle class and aristocratic pastime. The lodge histories also show that active members of the lodges tended also to be active in other groups within the towns and to have made a real contribution to their development.
    As a book the volume is a delight to hold. Clear print, excellent illustrations (many in full colour), a chronology of important dates and a concise index. As a combination of masonic and local Dorset history I heartily recommend the book not only to Freemasons but to anyone interested in Dorset or English social history in general.
    John Hamill