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Priests de la Resistance!

The loose canons who fought Fascism in the twentieth century

The Revd Fergus Butler-Gallie

‘A hugely enjoyable, eccentric account of clerical heroism in the face of evil.’ Observer

‘Comedy and tragedy run side by side… Bracing and lively.’ The Times

‘An admiring study of priests and ministers who have put their lives on the line.’ BBC History Magazine

Who says you can’t fight fascism in a cassock?
Wherever fascism has taken root, it has met with resistance. From taking a bullet for a frightened schoolgirl in Alabama to saving Greek Jews from extermination by way of fake IDs, each of the fifteen hard-drinking, chain-smoking clerics featured in this book were willing to risk their lives for what they believed.

  • Publication date: June 3, 2021
  • ISBN: 9781786078308
  • RRP: £9.99
  • Pages: 288
  • Publication date: October 10, 2019
  • ISBN: 9781786076724
  • RRP: £12.99
  • Pages: 288
  • Publication date: October 10, 2019
  • ISBN: 9781786076731
  • RRP: £5.99
  • Pages: 288

Reviews

‘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 Revd Fergus Butler-Gallie

The Reverend Fergus Butler-Gallie is a clergyman who has served in London and Liverpool and the author of A Field Guide to the English Clergy, a Best Book of the Year for The TimesMail on Sunday and BBC History, and Priests de la Resistance!, a Spectator Best Book of the Year. @_F_B_G_

Author page

More books by The Revd Fergus Butler-Gallie

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