Viv Broughton: Black Gospel: An Illustrated History Of The Gospel Sound (Blandford Press)

IT’S ONLY TOO easy to take that vicarious pleasure in the religious antics of folk who are not of one's own race, nationality or (non-) persuasion. Belief is safe when it's black. God becomes Hip. And besides, in the case of gospel, religion has long been the launching-pad for the great soul voices, so its pedigree is impeccable. There is nothing, I repeat nothing, strange about trendy young atheists bopping to the Mighty Clouds Of Joy in London concert-hall.