What is a saint? Many may think of the `heroes of the early Church' like St Peter and Therese of Lisieux, but the list extends onwards through time to contemporary saints like Matt Talbot and Edel Quinn. So Great a Cloud tells the story of these saints, old and new, be they clergy, laity, scholars, high-profile or less known, all with one thing in common - their ability to challenge and encourage us. The book can also be seen as a history of the church in terms of outstanding Christians. The success stories of this `communion of saints' remind us that the pilgrim church, despite its human failings, is essentially a way to God, a God that, historically and redemptively, remains `one of us'.