“You’ve won a prize.”

These words, in a telephone call from Artemis Cooper a couple of months ago, were the first indication John Barton had that he was even being considered for the coveted Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize, awarded annually since 1956 for the best work of non-fiction published in the previous year.

Dr Barton, emeritus Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture in the University of Oxford and a senior research fellow of Campion Hall, took the award for his bestselling book A History of the Bible.