Often brilliant and occasionally flawed anthropological reflection on a specific church in Rome, that brilliantly reflects some key symbols and themes (altars, bells, feminism) while retaining an interesting narrative. Some sensational choices of language mar sections - the author is a self-confessed subjective observer (a Catholic writing about Catholic history). Some sections, particularly those relating to contemporary public response to the place of a church, feel underdeveloped. The book nevertheless has great nuggets of information that make it more than worthy of a read.