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Timothy Larsen, Robert Beaken. Cosmo Lang: Archbishop in War and Crisis., The American Historical Review, Volume 119, Issue 1, February 2014, Pages 255–256, https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/119.1.255a
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In Cosmo Lang, Robert Beaken argues convincingly that the archbishopric of Canterbury was an influential position in English society in the 1930s and beyond, and that Lang acquitted himself well when he served God and country in this office (1928–1942).
Secularization narratives have led to assumptions that ecclesiastical leaders were largely irrelevant in twentieth-century Britain. Contrariwise, Beaken demonstrates just how extensively Lang was consulted, confided in, and drawn upon by the government, the royal family, and the populace at large. To take a typical example, the home secretary's preparations for the coming conflict with Germany included a plan to inform Britons that they were now at war through a radio broadcast that would be delivered by the king but written by Lang. The government's secret plans for evacuating parts of England in the event of an invasion were shared with Lang. In the order of precedence, only members of the royal family outranked him: Winston Churchill, as a mere prime minister, trailed behind this cleric.
