From Publishers Weekly
Cardinal John Henry Newman is an intellectual icon to many Catholics, particularly those who gather on college campuses in the "Newman Centers" that bear the famous convert's name. Turner, a Yale University history professor, dispels some of the aura that has collected around Newman over the years by examining his earlier life and writings, which reveal an intense antipathy toward the evangelical Protestantism of the day and its influence on the Church of England. In this weighty work, Turner focuses largely on "Tracts for the Times," which Newman and his circle of colleagues began publishing in 1833 in an effort to challenge Anglicanism by seeking to recover parts of the ancient Catholic faith that had been lost. Later, however, their writings had the unintended effect of drawing many of the so-called "Tractarians" into the Roman Catholic Church. Turner suggests strongly that Newman's religious character and his own eventual conversion to Catholicism in 1845 were less the result of a natural progression toward Rome and more due to "contingency after contingency," including the departure of his own followers and his rejection by the Church of England. Indeed, he writes, the Newman found in his later spiritual autobiography, Apologia pro Vita Sua, is hardly the same Newman of the Tractarian period. Turner's work is unlikely to sway Newman devotees and those promoting his cause for sainthood, but it is absorbing nonetheless and certainly will attract readers with a bent for revisionism.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
A complex leader in the early 19th-century Church of England and at Oxford, John Henry Newman (1801-90) converted to Catholicism in 1845, became a cardinal in 1879, and is currently being considered for sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. Turner (history, Yale; editor, Newman's The Idea of a University) describes Newman's years with the Church of England and Oxford with persuasive, documented research. Departing from previous interpretations, he shows Newman to be a controversial leader of followers at odds with what he saw as strong evangelicalism in the Church of England. His extreme rhetoric left him rejected both at Oxford and by high churchmen. Lectures, sermons, and correspondence give insight into his private judgments, whereby he recognized the collapse of his cause, which led to his conversion to Roman Catholicism. Turner shows Newman to be a champion of the authority of religious tradition and points to Newman's own writing to illustrate the idea of a dynamic Christian truth. Newman's concept of "development"-that the Christian truth was incomplete and constantly changing-provides for a truth that substantially transforms itself over the ages. This provocative text is recommended for academic and large libraries.George Westerlund, formerly with Providence P.L.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


George W. Rutler, National Review
Turner's beautiful writing bears the brush of one who…spent a long time with writers of a neo-Ciceronian age…


Book Description
One of the most controversial religious figures of the nineteenth century, John Henry Newman (1801-1890) began his career as a priest in the Church of England but converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1845. He became a cardinal in 1879. Between 1833 and 1845 Newman, now best known for his autobiographical Apologia Pro Vita Sua and The Idea of a University, was the aggressive leader of the Tractarian Movement within Oxford University. Newman, along with John Keble, Richard Hurrell Froude, and E. B. Pusey, launched an uncompromising battle against the dominance of evangelicalism in early Victorian religious life. By 1845 Newman's radically outspoken views had earned him censure from Oxford authorities and sharp criticism from the English bishops. Departing from previous interpretations, Turner portrays Newman as a disruptive and confused schismatic conducting a radical religious experiment. Turner demonstrates that Newman's passage to Rome largely resulted from family quarrels, thwarted university ambitions, the inability to control his followers, and his desire to live in a community of celibate males.


From the Back Cover
A provocative reappraisal of a pivotal figure, John Henry Newman also offers an important reconsideration of the religious and intellectual history of the nineteenth century. "Frank Turner is one of the leading historians of nineteenth-century Britain and arguably the leading intellectual historian, so expectations for this book run high-and they are not disappointed, for this is his crowning achievement." -Boyd Hilton, Cambridge University "Frank Turner's meticulously researched, brilliantly revisionist book hurls a grenade into Newman studies. . . . This magisterial work of intellectual archaeology forcefully conveys the complexity and conflict of early Victorian religion." -George P. Landow, Brown University


About the Author
Frank Turner is John Hay Whitney Professor of History at Yale University.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"One of the most controversial figures of the nineteenth century, John Henry Newman (1801-1890) began his career as a priest in the Church of England but converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1845, becoming a cardinal in 1879." Revising previous interpretations, this biography portrays Newman as a disruptive and confused schismatic conducting a radical religious experiment. Drawing upon an exhaustive exploration of primary sources, including Newman's own writings, contemporary pamphlets, journals, and newspapers, Frank M. Turner demonstrates that Newman's passage to Rome should be understood less in terms of his spiritual development than as an outgrowth of his personal frustrations - including quarrels with his brothers, thwarted university ambitions, inability to control his followers, and his desire to live in a community of celibate males.

FROM THE CRITICS

National Review

Turner's beautiful writing bears the brush of one who...spent a long time with writers of a neo-Ciceronian age...

Publishers Weekly

Cardinal John Henry Newman is an intellectual icon to many Catholics, particularly those who gather on college campuses in the "Newman Centers" that bear the famous convert's name. Turner, a Yale University history professor, dispels some of the aura that has collected around Newman over the years by examining his earlier life and writings, which reveal an intense antipathy toward the evangelical Protestantism of the day and its influence on the Church of England. In this weighty work, Turner focuses largely on "Tracts for the Times," which Newman and his circle of colleagues began publishing in 1833 in an effort to challenge Anglicanism by seeking to recover parts of the ancient Catholic faith that had been lost. Later, however, their writings had the unintended effect of drawing many of the so-called "Tractarians" into the Roman Catholic Church. Turner suggests strongly that Newman's religious character and his own eventual conversion to Catholicism in 1845 were less the result of a natural progression toward Rome and more due to "contingency after contingency," including the departure of his own followers and his rejection by the Church of England. Indeed, he writes, the Newman found in his later spiritual autobiography, Apologia pro Vita Sua, is hardly the same Newman of the Tractarian period. Turner's work is unlikely to sway Newman devotees and those promoting his cause for sainthood, but it is absorbing nonetheless and certainly will attract readers with a bent for revisionism. (Oct.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal