John Henry Newman
by Ian Ker
Hardback
Price: £30.00
Publisher:Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published:09 July 2009
ISBN:978-0-199-56910-6
GoodBookStall Review:
Originally published 1988
Since its publication over twenty years ago, this biography has taken its place alongside those by Wilfred Ward and Meriol Trevor. It differs from its predecessors in that Father Ker looks at Newman as a thinker and writer, so that it is 'also an intellectual and literary biography' (p.vii). We are presented with his personality, the events of his life, his concerns, failures and achievements in a way which permits the reader to come to their own conclusions about Newman, the mark of a sensitive biographer.
In this reissue, an 'Afterword' of four and a half pages brings Newman's cause for canonisation up to date; he will be beatified probably in 2010. Father Ker also firmly refutes 'any notion that Newman was homosexual in his inclinations...' (p. 748).
There is a copious 'Index' but, apart from 'Abbreviations' for Newman's works cited in the book, no (necessarily) select bibliography. An updated ‘Preface and Acknowledgements' would be appropriate. Except for the dust jacket and a frontispiece, it is solid text, but with a decent typeface, and well laid out. As the book is nearly 800 pages long, a paperback edition may be impractical; it is excellent value at £30.
Reviewer: J.Nicholas Latham (24/11/09)
Originally published 1988
Since its publication over twenty years ago, this biography has taken its place alongside those by Wilfred Ward and Meriol Trevor. It differs from its predecessors in that Father Ker looks at Newman as a thinker and writer, so that it is 'also an intellectual and literary biography' (p.vii). We are presented with his personality, the events of his life, his concerns, failures and achievements in a way which permits the reader to come to their own conclusions about Newman, the mark of a sensitive biographer.
In this reissue, an 'Afterword' of four and a half pages brings Newman's cause for canonisation up to date; he will be beatified probably in 2010. Father Ker also firmly refutes 'any notion that Newman was homosexual in his inclinations...' (p. 748).
There is a copious 'Index' but, apart from 'Abbreviations' for Newman's works cited in the book, no (necessarily) select bibliography. An updated ‘Preface and Acknowledgements' would be appropriate. Except for the dust jacket and a frontispiece, it is solid text, but with a decent typeface, and well laid out. As the book is nearly 800 pages long, a paperback edition may be impractical; it is excellent value at £30.
Reviewer: J.Nicholas Latham (24/11/09)
