Great Pilgrimage Sites of Europe

A lovely-looking book, with some fabulous images of important sites, that range from those known worldwide (Lourdes, Fatima, Czestochowa) to the less populist (Le Puy-en-Velay, Covadonga). Image quality is really strong, with every site getting an overall view, and several close-ups of the key treasures and sanctuaries – or the processions themselves – make up the six or eight pages each venue receives. I can't pretend to have read every word, because many early chapters in the preview file I received were in Lorem Ipsum, but enough entries had actually been given the English text for me to attest to the value of this volume. Snide comments about coach trippers are not the only reason to believe the author has been to all these places; his presence everywhere, and his potted histories and architectural guides really are most inspiring. Four and a half stars.

The photography in this book was absolutely stunning. I've been to a lot of churches in Europe and it fascinates to see what a professional chooses to photograph. I was amazed by how many of these locations I had not been to. Of the 33 pilgrimage sites in the book (I say sites and not churches because the entire city of Rome is considered one site) I have only been to 6. Clearly I need to go back and use this book as my travel guide. The descriptions gave a nice overview of the site providing information on the religious significance, history of the building, and how/why pilgrims continue to visit today. This is the type of book that I would buy for my coffee table. Looking at Goodreads, Derry Brabbs has several similar books that I now want to take a look at.

I was a bit annoyed to find that the download I had been given was missing about half the text for the book (it was in lorem ipsum). Several of the places that were missing the captions I really wanted to learn about and had to look up on wikipedia. I'm trying to have that saw my opinion of the book too much because a purchased copy would not have this issue.

Thank you to NetGalley and Frances Lincoln for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC through NetGalley with permission from the publisher. Thank you, I was very interested in the contents of the book, as I do hope to see all these sites for myself one day. I was given only parts of the book - the majority of the text was hidden under Lorem Ipsum gibberish, but what wasn't, was remarkable. I appreciated very much that the author wrote not only about physical appearances of those sites, but also about its history and spiritual background. That sort of information is invaluable to those wanting this book not only for its visual but also for its spiritual content. The photographs weren't hidden, and they were absolutely stunning. The book would be worth buying even only for themselves.

The only complaint I have would be that it appears that there are no pilgrimage sites outside the Western Europe, excluding Poland and Slovakia (maybe I err if I say they do not belong in there geographically). Ireland is also not on the list. The introduction section was also hidden from the viewing, so it might be that the clue for the criteria which sites do belong to the book and which not is given in there. In short, the book is indeed a beautiful coffee table book, just not as complete as it could've been.

Lovely photographs with added historical, social, and religious context made for an illuminating read.