CORONA GLADIORUM: Transactions of the Bristol Masonic Society, ANTHOLOGY VOLUME 1992-2004, Edited by Tony Baker, Bristol Masonic Society, 2005. Paperback, 206 pages. Available from the Editor, 72 North View, Westbury Park, Bristol, B56 7PZ, at £10 plus £1.50 p&p.

This is an admirable publication, deserving of a much wider readership than merely around Bristol. It is capable of charming the novice and also the learned.
    The book contains 15 talks. All except three have been selected from the 55 papers delivered to the Bristol Masonic Society during the period 1992-2004. The other three are earlier, justifying inclusion by their stimulating nature: in 1990 John Hamill’s Whence Come We?, and Bryan Jenkins’ Freemasonry-What you have always wanted to know but never dared to ask; and from 1917 (Sir) Ernest Cook’s original, quite splendid, Inaugural Address.
    Three-quarters of the remainder relate mainly to aspects of the Craft in Bristol. But how many of us are lucky enough to have visited there, let alone know the high and low watermarks or the tides swirling round this unique harbour of British Freemasonry? This volume deftly plumbs these strange depths, and the characters inhabiting them, old and new. The case studies are broad-ranging. They include, for example, the remarkable association with the Bristol Royal Infirmary, the formation of Round Table Lodges, and an examination of the many influential members of St Vincent Lodge 1404 within the Empire 1872-1914. Nor is Bristol ritual neglected.
    Apart from the Bristol theme the volume contains David Peabody’s apt musings on the Huguenots and their influence on early Freemasonry, the late John Foord’s entertaining caprice on Freemasonry and Music, and Jim Reddyhoff’s expert cautionary advice towards an appropriately-disciplined study of military masonry.
    The pleasure of this anthology lies in its intelligence and breadth. It is reader friendly.
    All the talks except one are clearly written and of an easy length, not more than 15 pages. A full list of the papers presented 1992-2004 is provided, many being intriguing, plus a concise biography of all the contributors to this volume. There is only one picture, and a minor scattering of misprints, but the unforgivable omission is any mention of cost and where to send your money to obtain a copy! Dear FT reader, be pleased find that key above.
    John Acaster