Tattered Magnificence

Peter’ next chapter is a brief one, and I will be even more brief. It is more explicitly autobiographical, and concerns the tattered magnificence of an England that was clearly visible when Peter was a boy, and which is now almost entirely gone. It is important to note that this chapter is not Peter giving way to nostalgia, but that this is an essential part of his argument. He is showing how it was possible for him to walk away from the God of his fathers, and it was all tied up in the decline of his fathers. Further, he is setting the stage for his next chapter — on the false religion that came to replace Christianity after the Second World War. Peter writes well throughout, but this chapter is beautifully written.