  A current challenge for ab initio calculations is systems that contain large
continuum contributions such as 8Be. We report on new measurements of radiative
decay widths in this nucleus that test recent Green's function Monte Carlo
calculations.
  Traditionally, {\gamma} ray detectors have been utilized to measure the high
energy photons from the 7Li(p, {\gamma}){\alpha}{\alpha} reaction. However, due
to the complicated response function of these detectors it has not yet been
possible to extract the full {\gamma} ray spectrum from this reaction. Here we
present an alternative measurement using large area Silicon detectors to detect
the two {\alpha} particles, which provides a practically background free
spectrum and retains good energy resolution.
  The resulting spectrum is analyzed using a many-level multi channel R-matrix
parametrization. Improved values for the radiative widths are extracted from
the R-matrix fit. We find evidence for significant non-resonant continuum
contributions and tentative evidence for a broad 0+ resonance at 12 MeV.
