One of the finest and most influential hymn-writers of our age, Timothy Dudley-Smith has published around 400 hymn texts. In this fascinating book, the author explores not only the writing of hymns but many other aspects including the study and singing of them. It is not a history, a text book, or an academic treatise, but the personal reflections of an experienced practitioner who has been speaking and writing on this subject, on both sides of the Atlantic, for more than fifty years. His armchair reflections draw freely on the writings of others, and in a discursive, almost conversational, style.