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Edmund Campion
Evelyn Waugh presented his biography of St. Edmund Campion, the Elizabethan poet, scholar and gentleman who became the haunted, trapped and murdered priest as "a simple, perfectly true story of heroism and holiness."
It is written with a novelist's eye for the telling incident and with all the elegance and feeling of a master of English prose. From the years of success as an Oxford scholar, to entry into the newly founded Society of Jesus and a professorship in Prague, Campion's life was an inexorable progress towards the doomed mission to England. There followed pursuit, betrayal, a spirited defense of loyalty to the Queen, and a horrifying martyr's death at Tyburn.
267 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1935
33 people are currently reading
1030 people want to read
About the author
Evelyn Waugh
347 books2,955 followersEvelyn Waugh's father Arthur was a noted editor and publisher. His only sibling Alec also became a writer of note. In fact, his book “The Loom of Youth” (1917) a novel about his old boarding school Sherborne caused Evelyn to be expelled from there and placed at Lancing College. He said of his time there, “…the whole of English education when I was brought up was to produce prose writers; it was all we were taught, really.” He went on to Hertford College, Oxford, where he read History. When asked if he took up any sports there he quipped, “I drank for Hertford.”
In 1924 Waugh left Oxford without taking his degree. After inglorious stints as a school teacher (he was dismissed for trying to seduce a school matron and/or inebriation), an apprentice cabinet maker and journalist, he wrote and had published his first novel, “Decline and Fall” in 1928.
In 1928 he married Evelyn Gardiner. She proved unfaithful, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1930. Waugh would derive parts of “A Handful of Dust” from this unhappy time. His second marriage to Audrey Herbert lasted the rest of his life and begat seven children. It was during this time that he converted to Catholicism.
During the thirties Waugh produced one gem after another. From this decade come: “Vile Bodies” (1930), “Black Mischief” (1932), the incomparable “A Handful of Dust” (1934) and “Scoop” (1938). After the Second World War he published what is for many his masterpiece, “Brideshead Revisited,” in which his Catholicism took centre stage. “The Loved One” a scathing satire of the American death industry followed in 1947. After publishing his “Sword of Honour Trilogy” about his experiences in World War II - “Men at Arms” (1952), “Officers and Gentlemen” (1955), “Unconditional Surrender" (1961) - his career was seen to be on the wane. In fact, “Basil Seal Rides Again” (1963) - his last published novel - received little critical or commercial attention.
Evelyn Waugh, considered by many to be the greatest satirical novelist of his day, died on 10 April 1966 at the age of 62.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_W...
In 1924 Waugh left Oxford without taking his degree. After inglorious stints as a school teacher (he was dismissed for trying to seduce a school matron and/or inebriation), an apprentice cabinet maker and journalist, he wrote and had published his first novel, “Decline and Fall” in 1928.
In 1928 he married Evelyn Gardiner. She proved unfaithful, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1930. Waugh would derive parts of “A Handful of Dust” from this unhappy time. His second marriage to Audrey Herbert lasted the rest of his life and begat seven children. It was during this time that he converted to Catholicism.
During the thirties Waugh produced one gem after another. From this decade come: “Vile Bodies” (1930), “Black Mischief” (1932), the incomparable “A Handful of Dust” (1934) and “Scoop” (1938). After the Second World War he published what is for many his masterpiece, “Brideshead Revisited,” in which his Catholicism took centre stage. “The Loved One” a scathing satire of the American death industry followed in 1947. After publishing his “Sword of Honour Trilogy” about his experiences in World War II - “Men at Arms” (1952), “Officers and Gentlemen” (1955), “Unconditional Surrender" (1961) - his career was seen to be on the wane. In fact, “Basil Seal Rides Again” (1963) - his last published novel - received little critical or commercial attention.
Evelyn Waugh, considered by many to be the greatest satirical novelist of his day, died on 10 April 1966 at the age of 62.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_W...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
July 10, 2023
A powerful book which describes the cruelty and persecution in the reign of Elizabeth 1. It was not a golden age for Catholics in England. Waugh does an excellent job in this book of three parts. The Scholar Campion at Oxford. The Priest and becoming a Jesuit knowing his return to England would result eventually in his death. Lastly, the Martyr where he was put before a kangaroo court and found guilty bravely going to his death at Tyburn hung, drawn and quartered.
May 20, 2023
An absolutely fantastic book, an instant favorite. I had a friend tell me this was Waugh's best book, and I didn't believe him until I read it for myself. So many lines that are going to stick with me for a long time. May I have even a fraction of the courage of the English martyrs.
October 14, 2022
Selina Hastings, Waugh's authoritative biographer, doesn't like this book about a Catholic scholar martyred under Elizabeth I, but I found it an informative and insightful page-turner.
As a devout Catholic, Waugh was inevitably going to be on Campion's side, and Hastings says he is too biased and the book is a mere "polemic". It seems natural to be biased against traducers and torturers, but Waugh's portrait of their employers, Elizabeth and her principal counsellors, is actually quite generous. Amidst the chaotic, violently-shifting government policies that followed Henry VIII's break with Rome, prominent persons had a choice between ruin and seeming compliance; those savvy surviving members of England's elite who were not fanatical Puritans had difficulty believing Campion, one of their own, would let himself be drawn and quartered over mere doctrinal differences, when it was so much easier to be a hypocrite. Waugh makes clear that they acted out of realpolitik and incomprehension, not malice. He also shows how the counter-Reformation made Catholic "activists" like Campion much more hard-nosed and uncompromising than English clerics of yore. Waugh admires Campion's faith and commitment, but he also wistfully yearns for the easier, friendlier pre-Reformation Church.
Hastings claims that in writing what she regards as a religious tract, Waugh's customary dry, detached wit deserts him: not at all! For example:
"Watson, the aged bishop of Lincoln, and Feckinham, the Abbot of Westminster, together with several other deposed dignitaries of the old Church, who had been allowed from time to time a measure of uneasy liberty, were now taken to Wisbech Castle and entrusted to men very different from the easy-going and corruptible jailers of the Marshalsea; no visitors were allowed them; no books except the Bible; they were kept apart from each other except at mealtimes, when their conversation was limited to mere civilities; they were obliged to find the expenses not only of themselves but of an Anglican chaplain who harangued them regularly in their cells and whose visits were as unacceptable as that of the harlot who was, on one occasion, locked up among them, not with the kindly, if misguided, notion of relieving their depression, but in order to damage the reputations of these aged men with the charge of incontinence."
One doesn't have to be Catholic to enjoy Waugh's vigorous narrative, and his refusal to be taken in by the usual Golden Age of Glorianna hype is refreshing.
As a devout Catholic, Waugh was inevitably going to be on Campion's side, and Hastings says he is too biased and the book is a mere "polemic". It seems natural to be biased against traducers and torturers, but Waugh's portrait of their employers, Elizabeth and her principal counsellors, is actually quite generous. Amidst the chaotic, violently-shifting government policies that followed Henry VIII's break with Rome, prominent persons had a choice between ruin and seeming compliance; those savvy surviving members of England's elite who were not fanatical Puritans had difficulty believing Campion, one of their own, would let himself be drawn and quartered over mere doctrinal differences, when it was so much easier to be a hypocrite. Waugh makes clear that they acted out of realpolitik and incomprehension, not malice. He also shows how the counter-Reformation made Catholic "activists" like Campion much more hard-nosed and uncompromising than English clerics of yore. Waugh admires Campion's faith and commitment, but he also wistfully yearns for the easier, friendlier pre-Reformation Church.
Hastings claims that in writing what she regards as a religious tract, Waugh's customary dry, detached wit deserts him: not at all! For example:
"Watson, the aged bishop of Lincoln, and Feckinham, the Abbot of Westminster, together with several other deposed dignitaries of the old Church, who had been allowed from time to time a measure of uneasy liberty, were now taken to Wisbech Castle and entrusted to men very different from the easy-going and corruptible jailers of the Marshalsea; no visitors were allowed them; no books except the Bible; they were kept apart from each other except at mealtimes, when their conversation was limited to mere civilities; they were obliged to find the expenses not only of themselves but of an Anglican chaplain who harangued them regularly in their cells and whose visits were as unacceptable as that of the harlot who was, on one occasion, locked up among them, not with the kindly, if misguided, notion of relieving their depression, but in order to damage the reputations of these aged men with the charge of incontinence."
One doesn't have to be Catholic to enjoy Waugh's vigorous narrative, and his refusal to be taken in by the usual Golden Age of Glorianna hype is refreshing.
July 15, 2012
When I first read this book in the early 90's I was still a Protestant struggling with the questions of conversion. At the end of it, I still had questions to resolve about becoming Catholic but I felt a real desire to become a Jesuit like Campion, ready to sacrifice all and defy anyone for the sake of the Gospel. Whatever your background, if you can read this story without being moved and challenged, beware the state of your soul!
It is a powerful story, thoroughly researched and skillfully told. I've often wondered why Waugh didn't write more like it; a life of More or Fisher from his pen, or even of an ambiguous and frustrated figure like Gardiner, would have been a great treasure. His life of St. Helena is excellent in its own way, but a very different sort of book.
The reason, it turns out, is very simple. The Campion book was not Waugh's idea in the first place. He wrote it primarily out of gratitude to the priest, Fr. Martin D'Arcy SJ, who had instructed him in the faith and received him into the Church five years before. One of D'Arcy's fellow Jesuits had done a great deal of research for a new biography of Campion but had died before he could actually write it. Not only is the book dedicated to Fr. Martin, but Waugh declined to profit personally from the book. He quietly signed over all royalties from the biography to Campion Hall, the Jesuit house at Oxford University that was just then beginning to be built.
It is a powerful story, thoroughly researched and skillfully told. I've often wondered why Waugh didn't write more like it; a life of More or Fisher from his pen, or even of an ambiguous and frustrated figure like Gardiner, would have been a great treasure. His life of St. Helena is excellent in its own way, but a very different sort of book.
The reason, it turns out, is very simple. The Campion book was not Waugh's idea in the first place. He wrote it primarily out of gratitude to the priest, Fr. Martin D'Arcy SJ, who had instructed him in the faith and received him into the Church five years before. One of D'Arcy's fellow Jesuits had done a great deal of research for a new biography of Campion but had died before he could actually write it. Not only is the book dedicated to Fr. Martin, but Waugh declined to profit personally from the book. He quietly signed over all royalties from the biography to Campion Hall, the Jesuit house at Oxford University that was just then beginning to be built.
December 26, 2009
One of the finest, most inspiring biographies I have ever read. It is a tale of faith and hope in the face of ferocious injustices and intensely bloody persecutions - truly the darkest days of Engish history. Evelyn Waugh's graceful prose and command of history and the spirit of this great saint makes this book hard to put down. Second time I've read it and it has only gotten finer with age
December 24, 2013
Considering my non-existent interest in the history of Catholicism in England, this book was still relatively interesting.
October 31, 2016
Chastening. Beautifully written.
July 15, 2012
I love the writing of Evelyn Waugh…his prose are some of the best of our time, if not of all time. And when that talent is used to pen a biography of the heroic English martyr, Edmund Campion, a tremendous blessing has been given to all who gleen it’s pages. What a story…what a life.
January 17, 2021
Fantastic book! Scholar, martyr and saint. As holy David said, Qui seminant in lachrymis, in exultatione metent: They who sow in tears, shall reap in joy.
April 13, 2024
Edmund Campion is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, canonized in 1970. This biography, written by Evelyn Waugh, was authored and published before that time. It is clear throughout the text, however, that Campion was a saint. His life was entirely dedicated to Jesus Christ. A scholar — whose devout belief in Christ’s Church led to his conversion to Roman Catholicism — he became a martyr for the benefit of English souls. I cannot write this better than Campion wrote himself. Thus, I shall quote him.
“Many innocent hands are lifted up to heaven for you daily by those English students, whose posterity shall never die, which beyond seas, gathering virtue and sufficient knowledge for the purpose, are determined never to give you over, but either to win you heaven, or to die upon your pikes. And touching our Society, be it known to you that we have made a league — all the Jesuits in the world, whose succession and multitude must overreach all the practices of England — cheerfully to carry the cross you shall lay upon us, and never to despair your recovery, while we have a man left to enjoy your Tyburn, or to be racked with your torments, or consumed with your prisons. The expense is reckoned, the enterprise is begun; it is of God, it cannot be withstood. So the faith was planted: so it must be restored.”
When I read those words that Campion wrote, published in the Appendix, intended for the reader to contemplate after finishing the biography, goosebumps covered my body and tears filled my eyes. It is the faith of men like Campion, their willingness to die the martyr’s death for the sake of Jesus Christ, that truly moves me.
Evelyn Waugh’s biography is well written and covers the life of Campion well. He is the master of prose and proves that yet again with this biography. I cannot recommend this book more. It is a must read for anyone who is interested in the Roman Catholic Church.
“Many innocent hands are lifted up to heaven for you daily by those English students, whose posterity shall never die, which beyond seas, gathering virtue and sufficient knowledge for the purpose, are determined never to give you over, but either to win you heaven, or to die upon your pikes. And touching our Society, be it known to you that we have made a league — all the Jesuits in the world, whose succession and multitude must overreach all the practices of England — cheerfully to carry the cross you shall lay upon us, and never to despair your recovery, while we have a man left to enjoy your Tyburn, or to be racked with your torments, or consumed with your prisons. The expense is reckoned, the enterprise is begun; it is of God, it cannot be withstood. So the faith was planted: so it must be restored.”
When I read those words that Campion wrote, published in the Appendix, intended for the reader to contemplate after finishing the biography, goosebumps covered my body and tears filled my eyes. It is the faith of men like Campion, their willingness to die the martyr’s death for the sake of Jesus Christ, that truly moves me.
Evelyn Waugh’s biography is well written and covers the life of Campion well. He is the master of prose and proves that yet again with this biography. I cannot recommend this book more. It is a must read for anyone who is interested in the Roman Catholic Church.
January 10, 2022
This book is simply just great. Edmund Campion is a heroic saint and figure in general, and Waugh’s prose conveys the story in the impressive manner it deserves.
In addition to being the story of a saint, the biography has a detailed cast of characters - priests, revolutionaries, monarchs, ecclesiastics, traitors, and martyrs. All these people give a taste of the character of the age in which Campion lived, in all its uniqueness and intrigue.
The best part of this book was the fact that the saint in question and his companions seemed so very human. Often, biographies or lives of saints are written in a very patronizing and “holier-than-thou” tone, but this one is very real and portrays Campion as both a true saint and a true man. Yes, Campion was on the run from authorities, said Mass and heard confessions in secret, was tortured, and died for the Faith, but he still was a man and not a mythological figure - he loved to debate, converse, and eat with his friends, he prayed the same as anyone else, and he (in some of the book’s funniest citations) had a sense of humor, even in the darkest moments.
Would recommend this to anyone, but most especially those who love Church History, European history, the history of the Jesuit order (back when they were hardcore), and those who want to know a man who truly loved God and His Church. 5/5
In addition to being the story of a saint, the biography has a detailed cast of characters - priests, revolutionaries, monarchs, ecclesiastics, traitors, and martyrs. All these people give a taste of the character of the age in which Campion lived, in all its uniqueness and intrigue.
The best part of this book was the fact that the saint in question and his companions seemed so very human. Often, biographies or lives of saints are written in a very patronizing and “holier-than-thou” tone, but this one is very real and portrays Campion as both a true saint and a true man. Yes, Campion was on the run from authorities, said Mass and heard confessions in secret, was tortured, and died for the Faith, but he still was a man and not a mythological figure - he loved to debate, converse, and eat with his friends, he prayed the same as anyone else, and he (in some of the book’s funniest citations) had a sense of humor, even in the darkest moments.
Would recommend this to anyone, but most especially those who love Church History, European history, the history of the Jesuit order (back when they were hardcore), and those who want to know a man who truly loved God and His Church. 5/5
May 19, 2023
Evelyn, my man, it’s too much. Not the length of the book, but the length of the chapters. The length of the paragraphs. The length of the sentences. It’s brilliant, I grant you, but that’s just the problem: it’s too much. My wee brain can’t handle it. Especially not when so many names from the 16th century are involved. Doubtless any British schoolboy could keep the Spaniards and Englishmen and saints and statesmen straight. But I am not a British schoolboy. I am an incorrigibly American girl. It’s a good thing I also happen to be Catholic or you probably would’ve lost me somewhere in the first chapter, seeing as how you’re combative on top of brilliant. In other words, you write beautifully and I’m very grateful you wrote this; but you do see why it took me nearly a year to get through, don’t you?
But Edmund Campion—oh, sir. I mean Father. Your biographer may be brilliant, but your heroism more than makes up for it. Pray for us, please.
But Edmund Campion—oh, sir. I mean Father. Your biographer may be brilliant, but your heroism more than makes up for it. Pray for us, please.
December 26, 2022
Devastating
May 10, 2024
8.5/10
November 17, 2021
At times confusing with the multitude of unfamiliar names, but otherwise a very good account of an awful period of British history of which many are unaware.
February 16, 2021
Evelyn Waugh did not become a famous novelist for no reason. The English language has power in his hands. That is no different here.
Unfortunately, Waugh seems to assume that his readers will have a solid understanding of Catholic history, particularly the period after the Church of England institutes itself, as well as a priori knowledge of Campion himself. There is little to no effort made of explaining why Campion deserves a biography. Indeed, as Waugh himself says, he hasn't done much research of his own and is only writing a collation of other biographies, which means that Campion has had plenty written about him already and people must know that. Though I personally do have a knowledge of that period of history, I had no prior knowledge of Campion, or any of the other individual Catholic martyrs. Since the book assumes you're reading it because you already know about Campion, I constantly felt like I was missing something.
Apart from the assumptions Waugh makes about his readers, it's hard not to appreciate the depth of faith of both Campion and Waugh. Of course, Waugh himself was a convert to Catholicism in the midst of the Church of England, and so this biography of Campion is in a way his apologia in the style of John Henry Newman. He chose a good subject. Whether you are Catholic yourself or not (I am not), I suspect you will finish the book with a greater desire to feel your faith and think your faith.
Unfortunately, Waugh seems to assume that his readers will have a solid understanding of Catholic history, particularly the period after the Church of England institutes itself, as well as a priori knowledge of Campion himself. There is little to no effort made of explaining why Campion deserves a biography. Indeed, as Waugh himself says, he hasn't done much research of his own and is only writing a collation of other biographies, which means that Campion has had plenty written about him already and people must know that. Though I personally do have a knowledge of that period of history, I had no prior knowledge of Campion, or any of the other individual Catholic martyrs. Since the book assumes you're reading it because you already know about Campion, I constantly felt like I was missing something.
Apart from the assumptions Waugh makes about his readers, it's hard not to appreciate the depth of faith of both Campion and Waugh. Of course, Waugh himself was a convert to Catholicism in the midst of the Church of England, and so this biography of Campion is in a way his apologia in the style of John Henry Newman. He chose a good subject. Whether you are Catholic yourself or not (I am not), I suspect you will finish the book with a greater desire to feel your faith and think your faith.
October 23, 2023
I'm a human striving for sanctity, with a lot of emphasis on "human." This book is incredible in just about every way: the content, the message, the literary quality, and whatever else I may be missing. It is also one of those special books that really moved me and, despite my humanity, truly urged (and still urges) me to give my all. St. Edmond Campion was a simple man living in a complex moment in England's history, but he did the simplest yet most unthinkable thing possible: he stood by the truth. May God grant us all the grace to live likewise, in the midst of all the craziness the world has for us, not to mention the craziness we all too often cause for ourselves.
July 7, 2021
This is my second reading of this famous biography of a priest who loved his faith more than himself. Throughout history, few people have arisen who, by their example, have left the world an enduring legacy of moral courage and indestructible commitment to truth in the face of atrocious savagery. Edmund Campion is certainly one of these rare heroes. Evelyn Waugh sings of Campion with incomparable elegance. His writing is rich, balanced, full of life and (almost) worthy of the man whose life and death he proclaims.
June 7, 2014
This was an excellent biography of an extraordinary man. As with all the lives of the saints, I found so much that was relevant and inspiring even now, centuries later.
Having just read Helena and The Loved One, though, I did miss the personality and story telling that is so wonderful in Waugh's fictional works.
Having just read Helena and The Loved One, though, I did miss the personality and story telling that is so wonderful in Waugh's fictional works.
August 4, 2010
Waugh had already made, or very nearly made, the transition from young bad boy satirist to mature novelist with "A Handful of Dust" but this fine little book presages his later work. A beautiful piece of writing.
August 29, 2022
Late in life, I’ve decided to read more of Evelyn Waugh’s works. I recently read the Sword of Honour trilogy and was deeply impressed.
Waugh’s agenda is clear as ever, conservative, snobbish, Catholic. With that understood, the book is readable and moderately informative. I’m interested in 16th & 17th century history, the English reformation, recusants and the gradual birth of the Anglican Church. This book just skims the biography of Campion as known at the time it was written, and it has definitely interested me enough to seek out more in depth and modern treatments.
In terms of Waugh’s snobbishness, one consistent theme in the book is the support for the Catholic Church and for the beleaguered priests among ordinary English people. Waugh, therefore, pointedly identifies anglicans and anti-Catholics as arrivistes and low-lifes, priest-finders, informers etc. The implication is that if the English government wasn’t supporting the state church by vicious criminal sanctions, the English people would have been very happy to revert to Rome.
Very readable, highly recommended.
Waugh’s agenda is clear as ever, conservative, snobbish, Catholic. With that understood, the book is readable and moderately informative. I’m interested in 16th & 17th century history, the English reformation, recusants and the gradual birth of the Anglican Church. This book just skims the biography of Campion as known at the time it was written, and it has definitely interested me enough to seek out more in depth and modern treatments.
In terms of Waugh’s snobbishness, one consistent theme in the book is the support for the Catholic Church and for the beleaguered priests among ordinary English people. Waugh, therefore, pointedly identifies anglicans and anti-Catholics as arrivistes and low-lifes, priest-finders, informers etc. The implication is that if the English government wasn’t supporting the state church by vicious criminal sanctions, the English people would have been very happy to revert to Rome.
Very readable, highly recommended.
July 31, 2017
This is a fairly short and surprisingly old fashioned biography of Edmund Campion. I say surprisingly because Waugh's writing is usually more modern in tone. This is more reverent than one expects of Waugh. Campion was an English scholar who seemed destined for greatness but who realized his sympathies were with the Catholic church. He went to Douai in France was received into the Catholic church. He eventually went to Rome, joined the Jesuit order and was assigned to a mission to return to England to preach to Catholics still in England. Campion expected all along the this mission would be a death sentence, but he seems to have only worried that he didn't have the courage to do it.
Waugh does a very good job of explaining that Campion at no time was part of a plot to bring down the English government and murder Queen Elizabeth. The book is easy to read, except for the use of clerical terms that most of us wouldn't understand. It is hardly the best of Waugh but it is well done.
Waugh does a very good job of explaining that Campion at no time was part of a plot to bring down the English government and murder Queen Elizabeth. The book is easy to read, except for the use of clerical terms that most of us wouldn't understand. It is hardly the best of Waugh but it is well done.
January 1, 2025
One doesn't expect great writing when it comes to the lives of the saints, but when you get it, it really is a pleasure.
Waugh, a convert and Englishman himself, is able to give thoughtful insights into how the great martyr Edmund Campion thought and expressed himself. I also gained a greater appreciation for how the cultural forces of "Englishness" were able to sway the island away from their ancient religion to a new one: being one with the monarch was (and in a way still is) terribly important.
"Within a few years of its foundation the seminary was sending about twenty priests a year to England, of whom, before the end of Elizabeth's reign, 160 had died on the scaffold." (p. 58)
(Campion's response to an Anglican cleric who attempted to lead him in prayer on the scaffold) "Sir, you and I are not one in religion, wherefore I pray you content yourself. I bar none of prayer; but I only desire them that are of the household of faith to pray with me, and in mine agony to say one creed." (p. 187)
Waugh, a convert and Englishman himself, is able to give thoughtful insights into how the great martyr Edmund Campion thought and expressed himself. I also gained a greater appreciation for how the cultural forces of "Englishness" were able to sway the island away from their ancient religion to a new one: being one with the monarch was (and in a way still is) terribly important.
"Within a few years of its foundation the seminary was sending about twenty priests a year to England, of whom, before the end of Elizabeth's reign, 160 had died on the scaffold." (p. 58)
(Campion's response to an Anglican cleric who attempted to lead him in prayer on the scaffold) "Sir, you and I are not one in religion, wherefore I pray you content yourself. I bar none of prayer; but I only desire them that are of the household of faith to pray with me, and in mine agony to say one creed." (p. 187)
October 5, 2017
This is a fascinating book that accomplishes different things. Firstly, it portrays the life and sacrifices made by Edmund Campion, from renouncing to success in England to his very martyrdom, and his selflessness in trying to help others while abiding by a separation between Church and State. The description of his condemnation in a mock trial devoid of minimum guarantees and due process shows how, in spite of the Queen's proclamation that faith had nothing to do with the sentencing, reflect how conviction was preordained regardless of actual guilt or treason. On the other hand, the book clearly describes how religious toleration in the Elizabethan era was actually not so, and the drastic changes experienced in England over a short period. Highly recommended.
March 18, 2024
A straightforward and none-too-indulgent biography that was a 2024 Lenten read, as I picked St. Edmund as one of our family's patron saints for the liturgical year.
I had never realized that Campion had spent so much time outside of England, and while reading about the English martyrs is always galvanizing and poignant, Campion's example is particularly striking. Waugh is very attentive to a number of the Saint's contemporaries which makes me want to dig further, as well as feeds my morbid curiosity about the length and breadth of the bloody Anglican schism and persecutions.
An interesting and rewarding read for those interested in martyrology and the lives of the saints.
Borrowed from Josh
I had never realized that Campion had spent so much time outside of England, and while reading about the English martyrs is always galvanizing and poignant, Campion's example is particularly striking. Waugh is very attentive to a number of the Saint's contemporaries which makes me want to dig further, as well as feeds my morbid curiosity about the length and breadth of the bloody Anglican schism and persecutions.
An interesting and rewarding read for those interested in martyrology and the lives of the saints.
Borrowed from Josh
August 27, 2024
I love the English martyrs so when I saw this book at a used book sale at the Oxford Oratory, I had to grab it. I enjoyed reading about Campion's life, through his time at school to his conversion to his time abroad to his time through England to his trial and martyrdom.
The 4 stars is for the writing style. Sometimes Waugh got a bit long-winded, and he would often go off on random tangents that would have me wondering how it was related to where we were in Campion's story. They usually became relevant later, but by then, I had forgotten what I had read 30 pages ago about this random person/story.
I would still recommend the book for anyone who wants to learn more about Campion's life.
The 4 stars is for the writing style. Sometimes Waugh got a bit long-winded, and he would often go off on random tangents that would have me wondering how it was related to where we were in Campion's story. They usually became relevant later, but by then, I had forgotten what I had read 30 pages ago about this random person/story.
I would still recommend the book for anyone who wants to learn more about Campion's life.
April 11, 2021
Three stars is generous for this sincere but plodding tribute to the Oxford-educated Elizabethan English martyr. The book was written partly as a tribute to Fr. Martin D'Arcy, the Jesuit priest responsible for Waugh's conversion to Catholicism, on the occasion of the founding of Campion Hall, Oxford, where D'Arcy served as the first master. The accounts of the persecution of Catholics, and Campion's imprisonment and torture, are harrowing and compelling. But the overall tone is dated, simplistic and excessively reverential. One really does not get a good sense of the charisma and intellect that made Campion such a revered figure, leading to his canonization in 1970.
April 30, 2020
Wonderfully written, with novelistic flair rather than biographical rigour. It does assume quite a familiarity with 16thC and the fun to be had when different groups of bloody-minded, self-righteous religious zealots take turns persecuting, torturing, and killing each other in excruciating ways to please their ever-loving god. Still, at least we've outgrown such medieval bickering over religion and dogma.
September 15, 2025
Growing up I heard a lot about the Protestant martyrs during the reign of Mary I of England - Fox's Book of Martyrs was mentioned quite often. Not much was mentioned of Catholic martyrs of Elizabeth I's reign.
While I was reading it, Charlie Kirk was killed (Sept 10, 2025). The book and those events made me wonder if being a Christian were illegal, would I be strong enough to stand up for Christ?
Men and women of faith are needed in every age and in every nation.
While I was reading it, Charlie Kirk was killed (Sept 10, 2025). The book and those events made me wonder if being a Christian were illegal, would I be strong enough to stand up for Christ?
Men and women of faith are needed in every age and in every nation.
December 27, 2018
A beautifully written, almost poetic overview of the life of the English martyr and saint. It helped me to understand just how difficult it was to be Catholic in Elizabethan England, and of the courage it took for Campion and his contemporaries to serve in their native land. I'll have a much harder time enjoying movies and documentaries that portray Elizabeth as a hero.
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