The project is a book on the history and theory of Anglican church architecture in Britain's empire during the mid-nineteenth century (1840–70). The book focuses on the intellectual origins and motives underpinning the transformation in ecclesiastical design during this period, reassessing the ways in which High Victorian–theory affected attitudes towards the role of Anglicanism and its ecclesiological manifestations in the non–European world. The study is cross–disciplinary and considers ecclesiastical architecture in the context of contemporary debate on missionary theology, scientific theory, sexuality, race, national identity, empire, and the political economy of art. It examines buildings and designs both in and intended for Canada, the Indian Subcontinent, the Caribbean, Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australasia, and the Pacific Islands. When completed, the book will be the first comprehensive and systematic study of the topic.

Alex Bremner is senior lecturer (associate professor) in architectural history at the University of Edinburgh. He was a Gates Scholar at the University of Cambridge from 2001–04, where he completed his doctorate on the history and theory of Victorian architecture. Upon completing his PhD, Bremner was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (Yale University). Bremner's work has been published in some of the world's leading scholarly journals on architectural history, art history, and modern and intellectual history, including Architectural History, the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, the Historical Journal, and Modern Intellectual History. His work has also been recognized by several international awards, including the Hawksmoor Medal (Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain, 2002) and the Founders' Award (Society of Architectural Historians, 2011).