Written from the depths of his experience of 40 years as an Anglican parish priest and 10 years' research, writing and lecturing on dementia, Malcolm Goldsmith's 'In a Strange Land - People with Dementia and the Local Church', sub-titled "A guide and encouragement for ministry", is a detailed and compassionate blueprint for anyone called upon to deal with a dementia sufferer.

Its four sections contain material which "sets the scene"; helps the reader to understand the care needed for people who are affected; suggests the local church's response and, finally, offers theological reflection - with a chapter headed "Engage the mind, touch the heart, feed the soul" - and suggestions for forms of service to be used on admittance to a nursing home as well as for a service of remembrance and thanksgiving.

There is a chapter on the "'negative experience' of dementia" which chillingly lists the thoughtless attitudes which too many of us can adopt in day-to-day interaction with a sufferer and a foreword by the Bishop of Brechin, the Rt Rev Neville Chamberlain, in which he movingly describes his own lack of understanding of his mother's last years with Alzheimer's Disease and of his sister's difficulties as her carer.

The powerful combination of the academic, the practical and the empathetic make this book required reading for all who would wish to know "What does it feel like to have dementia?", rather than simply "What is dementia?"