Cardinal Manning: A Biography

From Publishers Weekly An ecclesiastical eminence of the Victorian era is the subject of this biographical reassessment, which sheds light on his complex character and the heady religious ferment in England at the time. Henry Manning, a convert to Catholicism from the Church of England, who 14 years later was named Archbishop of Westminster and Metropolitan of all Catholics in England, was a controversial figure. With apocalyptic zeal, he defended the temporal power of the Rome-centered church and had a publicized falling-out with another famous convert, Cardinal Newman. Although Manning was highly regarded in his lifetime, his reputation suffered a decline after his death. Ambitious, aristocratic, a widower, he was "acknowledged to be one of the handsomest men of his day," according to Gray, author of A History of London. This lively, well researched study is corrective, occasionally tedious in service to justice, but consistently illuminating. DecemberCopyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Gray provides a multidimensional portrait of Henry Edward Manning (1808-92), Cardinal and Archbishop of Westminster, tracing his career from married Anglican priest to widowed Catholic prelate. Gray's sound biography can be recommended to all readers interested in 19th-century British social and religious history, since he provides compelling descriptions of Manning's relations with other significant figures such as Gladstone and Cardinal Newman and a clear portrayal of the intellectual problems of the Oxford Movement. While some readers may find that Gray is too passionately pro-Manning and unfair to both the Church of England and Cardinal Newman, Gray's work serves as a valuable corrective to Lytton Strachey's debunking portrayal of Manning. The book's only major flaw is the lack of a bibliography. Susan A. Stussy, Marian Coll. Lib., IndianapolisCopyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.