Who says you can't fight fascism in a cassock?
The Reverend Fergus Butler-Gallie is Assistant Curate at Liverpool Parish Church and the author of A Field Guide to the English Clergy, a Best Book of the Year for The Times, Mail on Sunday and BBC History. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Oxford and a bachelor’s degree in theology from the University of Cambridge. He once accidentally appeared on Only Connect. This is his second book.
‘Fascinating…full of stories you may not know but which need to be
heard’
*Spectator, BOOKS OF THE YEAR*
‘This winter’s best title is Fergus Butler-Gallie’s work on wartime
heroics by the clergy.’
*Patrick Kidd, The Times*
‘A timely and uplifting book… An hugely enjoyable if slightly
eccentric account of clerical heroism in the face of evil…
[Butler-Gallie] achieves an inspiring effect through the sheer
cumulative impact of so many brave decisions.’
*Julian Coman, Observer*
‘… this book is a gripping story of bravery, derring-do and cunning
in the face of Fascism… vividly told tales of 15 people who became
caught up in the struggles against Fascism in Europe in the
1930s’
*Tablet*
’15 short, engaging essays… The reverend is a good writer with a
light touch, and a natural storyteller.’
*New Statesman*
‘… it is refreshing to read an unashamedly admiring study of
priests and ministers who have put their lives on the line…
readable and moving.'
*BBC History Magazine*
‘Here the Reverend Butler-Gallie wittily profiles 15 “loose
cannons” who stood up against fascism’.
*Strong Words*
‘Butler-Gallie serves them and their stories well with background
information, a fluent narrative style, and a fine eye for the
quirky and telling personal or historical detail.’
*Church Times*
'As entertaining as it is erudite, this enthralling anthology
presents a cornucopia of quirky, courageous Fascist-fighting
clerics.'
*LoveReading*
‘A field guide to 20th-century priests, monks and nuns from all
over the world who were prepared to die for their faith and to die
saving others... He proves it true that comedy and tragedy
run side by side, and that some of the most unlikely people turn
out to be saints and martyrs... Bracing and lively.’
*The Times*
‘Deserves a wide readership. It could be argued that it took
allegiance to a higher power than secular Messiahs to support
resistance to the most hateful regimes of the 20th Century.’
*Church of England Newspaper*
5* review: ‘a joyful and funny book, about some fascinating,
brave and at times eccentric characters, who did what was right
because it was right, regardless of the potential personal cost… I
was left wanting to know more about all of them.’
*Sorted*
‘The history of Christianity during World War II is not pretty, as
many leading Church figures collaborated with the Nazis and gave
succour to anti-Semitism. A handful of religious people stood tall
and met the challenge – the little-known men and women vividly
described in these fascinating pages opposed both fascism and
religious authority to fight the true good fight. If only there had
been more like them!’
*Matthew Cobb, author of The Resistance*
Praise for A Field Guide to the English Clergy: ‘A group biography
of ecclesiastical nuttiness… All gloriously mad.' The Times,
Books of the Year 2018 ‘Eye-popping tales of lunacy, debauchery and
depravity…Butler-Gallie knows whereof he writes, being a curate
himself, and he has done a splendid job presenting a smorgasbord of
most peculiar parsons.' Sebastian Shakespeare, Daily Mail
‘We have…always kept a special haven for oddballs in the Church of
England, as Fergus Butler-Gallie demonstrates in this entertaining
compendium…Their foibles cover all bases from absentmindedness to
epic drunkenness…I'm glad I read this one. It's a lot of
fun.' The Times ‘Entertainingly erudite…But it is also a
surprisingly profound work…For all its mischief, Butler-Gallie's
work of lightly worn erudition is a paean to a great English
institution, finely tuned to the temper of its representatives,
good, bad and indifferent. We should treasure it
more.' Literary Review ‘A humorous compendium of some of the
oddball clergy who have served the Church over the
centuries...These thumbnail portraits reveal a very broad church
indeed.' New Statesman ‘The Church of England has produced
some real oddballs in its time, and this is an entertaining gallop
through several centuries' worth of them…Butler-Gallie has done his
homework, digging out some rare gems…This is the story not just of
eccentrics, but also of a leisured age that is no more.' Harry
Mount, Spectator ‘Wonderfully entertaining…A hilarious yet
thoughtful reminder that the Christian faith wasn't always thought
incompatible with a sense of humour or a healthy
bolshiness.' Sunday Times ‘It may have the makings of a modern
classic…Butler-Gallie chronicles not just Anglican follies, but
also human weaknesses which we all share and with which we can
perhaps sympathise.' The Catholic Herald ‘This is a
ridiculously enjoyable book: funny, compassionate, and wonderfully
well-written.' Tom Holland ‘A delightful, sympathetic,
humorous and earthed cocktail of quirky English clergy.' The
Rt Revd David Wilbourne
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