I recently read “Not the Whole Truth” (1971) the autobiography of Cardinal John Heenan up to the point when he was made Bishop of Leeds in 1951. In many ways it is a book with bits worth skipping. On the other hand he did visit Russia and Germany prior to 1939. (In both cases travelling incognito). An interesting extract relative to the current debates as to whether England is a secular or a religious society is as follows:

“When Mr Butler (1941 President of the Board of Education) began to outline a new education bill (which became the Education Act 1944) it was obvious that the Government intended to give religion a more prominent place in the curriculum. It is impossible to be certain of other people’s motives but I think the politicians were genuinely alarmed by the paganism of Nazi Germany and felt that the British as Christian crusaders should teach young citizens more about Christianity…That is why in the new Act  it was proposed to include a daily act of worship and an agreed (non-denominational) syllabus of religious instruction.”