“An important but often forgotten fact that emerges throughout this highly readable biography is the central role played by gifted elders in the birth and growth of the Free Church of Scotland. The focus is so often on outstanding ministers such as Chalmers, Cunningham, Guthrie and Begg. But without the business acumen, financial resources and and the spiritual zeal of men like Charles Cowan, the Free Church would, humanly speaking, have struggled to survive. Cowan himself lived out his faith in the glare of civic publicity, often derided in the press, but acknowledged by all to be a man of Christian integrity, deeply committed to the welfare of his fellow men, compassionate and articulate, adorning the gospel he professed, and a credit to the Church of which he was a member.” From a review in the Monthly Recorder by John MacPherson