'Priest and Patriot.'

Dr. James Hagerty's epic biographical account of Cardinal Hinsley, 'Priest and Patriot', has actually been out for quite a while. I always think that providing I'm only six months behind with reading then ... that's progress.

A publication of Family Publications , Hagerty provides us with the definitive vade mecum for any scholar of the life and reign of Hinsely and indeed for those interested in English Catholicism in the first half of the twentieth century.

Hagerty is a fine man. I have known him for some years and James is also a member of the Catholic Record Society Council. Hagerty is a noted modern historian and, unlike many colleagues, thoroughly pleasant and down to earth.

In many ways he was destined to write this fine work- as Headmaster of St. Bede's Grammar School in Bradford (1987 - 2001), Hagerty continued the legacy of Hinsely who had founded the institution at the dawn of the twentieth century in an effort to provide an infrastructure to give social cohesion to the Catholic communities of South Yorkshire.

The comprehensive account of Hinsley's life, given in this work is positively Herculean. Hagerty begins with Hinsley's youth, his vocation, his time at Ushaw College (I never knew he was responsible for cataloguing almost the entire of the library there) and the English College, Rome. His time as Headmaster of St. Bede's is skilfully charted as is his time on the English Mission (1904 - 17). As Rector of the English College at Rome, Hagerty uses a wealth of documentary material to detail Hinsely's administration, his reforms and the legacy he left behind.

The second third of the work is devoted to what I see as Hinsley's greatest contribution to the Universal Church - his missionary work in Africa and his delegation as Apostolic Visitor (1928 - 30) to Africa. Here, Hinsley skilfully balanced the duty of the English Catholic to be loyal to the British Empire whilst remaining loyal to the Holy See. English Catholic history is littered with men and women who failed to achieve that - for good or ill. Hagerty's detailed expose of the vast administrative capacity of Hinsley's small team across an immense continent suggests something akin to archival exhaustion. This is the result of years of careful archival collation and will remain the definitive account of the Cardinal for the next hundred years - if not longer.

The last five chapters examine Hinsley's role as Archbishop (later Cardinal) of Westminster and the aftermath of the death of Cardinal Bourne. Hinsley reigned from (1935 - 43). Clearly the war overshadowed much of his office yet Hagerty does not let this dominate the text. As Archbishop, Hinsley's ability to govern a large archdiocese was unquestioned - what was Westminster to Africa? However, unlike some of his successors, Hinsley was no establishment man; yet, he was a heroic man. He fought to keep Catholic education under the control of the Church which, as the current incumbent of Westminster is aware, was pivotal to the sustainability of the English Catholic communities.

Anyway. That's a brief snippet as to this great work.