Brian Brindley

There was much sadness in Brian Brindle&ygrave;s life. Emerging from Oxford (Pi in the High) he eventually took up an appointment as a Vicar in Reading having fought vigorously against the ordination of women and other manifestations of modernity.

But one fine day a journalist from a nasty Tabloid tricked him into talking about his sexual life and fantasies, recorded the interview and printed extracts in his newspaper.

The result was devastating and Brindley resigned. He retired to Brighton and was received into the Roman Catholic Church. But in the process he became a hero to countless thousands of people who love the Old Order. High Tories for whom ritual remains of the utmost importance. And having been stitched up by a tabloid newspaper only increased the admiration in which he was held.

Alan Bennett, leader of the fan club, has written a brilliant opening chapter in which he describes Brindley's magic but also his deep charity and pastoral care.Others follow including A.N. Wilson and Telegraph correspondent Damian Thompson.

This will become a cult book for assuredly Brindley was the last of his kind.

Famous for performing dazzling candle-lit services in a back-street church in Reading, cleric Brian Brindley (1931-2001) was perhaps the grandest eccentric ever produced by the Anglo-Catholic movement in the Church of England. After his forced resignation from the General Synod in 1989, he reinvented himself as a Roman Catholic journalist. This volume presents candid recollections by Brindley's friends and colleages, followed by a selection of articles he wrote for The Catholic Herald. Thompson is Editor-in-Chief of that publication. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Damian Thompson writes regularly for the UK’s Daily and Sunday Telegraph and is also literary editor of The Catholic Herald.