The historiography of the nineteenth-century English Catholic Church is a well-trodden path which can be divided, albeit crudely, into two categories: the top-down studies of the church hierarchy which includes countless biographies of popes, archbishops, bishops and other notable figures; and the bottom-up ‘parish history’ approach that charts the establishment and development of a local mission, often populated by Irish immigrants, in the afterglow of emancipation. Serenhedd James's study of the overlooked English Catholic prelate, George Errington, falls very much into the former category; but James's lively prose style brings to life what could have been an insular tale of dry ecclesiastical politics into something more universal, in which broken friendships, intrigues and thwarted ambitions are played out at the very highest level.

George Errington was born in Richmond, Yorkshire. He was educated as a boy at Ushaw College but trained for the priesthood at the English College in Rome. Here, along with his fellow-seminarian, Nicholas Wiseman, he excelled in his studies, so much so that, following his ordination in 1827, Wiseman and Errington were appointed Rector and Vice-Rector of the English College respectively. Errington was forced to resign in 1831, spending the next twelve years travelling in Europe and exploring his interest in natural history before his appointment as prefect of studies at Oscott College, once again working under Wiseman who, at this stage, was president of the college. He was then employed as a missionary in Liverpool and Salford before he was raised to the episcopate as bishop of Plymouth in 1851. Errington's management of the Plymouth diocese was, by any definition, a successful one. His pastoral sense and devotion to the poor were complemented by a financial shrewdness in leaving a very poor diocese solvent. This led to promotion to the position of archbishop of Trebizond and Wiseman's coadjutor in 1855. In this role, he was immediately beset by controversy when he effectively forced the Catholic convert W. G. Ward to resign from his position as Professor of Dogmatic Theology at St Edmund's College, a decision which so incensed Wiseman that he opposed his coadjutor and reinstated Ward. Errington was temporarily transferred by the Holy See to the bishopric of Clifton in October 1855 but returned as coadjutor two years later. Further disagreements with Wiseman followed and the schism between the two men was completed by the so-called ‘Errington Case’, in which Wiseman petitioned the Holy See for the removal of his coadjutor. This was granted, not because of Errington's own incompetence but because the pope, encouraged by Mgr Talbot's manoeuvring and intrigue behind the scenes, realised that Wiseman and Errington could no longer work together. On Wiseman's death in 1865, Errington was overlooked for the archbishopric of Westminster, with Pope Pius ix preferring Henry Edward Manning. Errington then spent three years as parish priest of Douglas in the Isle of Man, declining the invitation to become the future archbishop of Glasgow, a position not yet created and dependent on the re-establishment of the hierarchy in Scotland. In 1869 he attended the First Vatican Council as a vocal opponent of defining the doctrine of papal infallibility. He spent the last seventeen years of his life as a theology tutor at Prior Park College in Bath before his death in January 1886.

James's critical determination to recover Errington's reputation from the damage done to him by both contemporaries and historians is evident throughout this book. James is particularly thorough in his analysis of the breakdown of Wiseman and Errington's relationship, demonstrating how two shining stars of the post-emancipation English Catholic Church, who shared a similar education at the English College in Rome but whose personalities were incompatible, could find it almost impossible to work together. Errington was the archetypal administrator; well-organised, financially astute, thorough in detail and not afraid to be critical of others if he observed a point of canon law being contravened. Conversely, Wiseman did not take kindly to criticism and expected unquestioned loyalty from his bishops. Indeed, by the time of the cardinal's death in 1865, their relationship had deteriorated to such an extent that Errington could not even bring himself to attend his former school friend's funeral. This had a profound effect on Errington and helps to explain why he was suspicious of the hierarchy's offer of the archbishopric of Glasgow.

James is particularly good on the smaller details of Errington's life – something the archbishop himself would no doubt have appreciated. Away from the pressures of the episcopate, Errington spent the little free time he allowed himself in pursuing his own interests, notably in botany when he could often be found studying the flowers in the hedgerows alongside the navvies building the nation's bridges and railways. His strong sense of duty and responsibility was a lifelong characteristic. It is somehow fitting that, when told that he only had a few hours left to live, the bedridden Errington spent most of this time marking the essays of his Prior Park students.

Criticisms are minor. There is a useful bibliography of secondary sources at the end of the volume but no list of primary sources, although these are referenced in footnotes. The introduction, setting out the context of Catholic history in England from the Reformation to the nineteenth-century, is perhaps a little unnecessary. In general, however, this is an excellent, highly readable book deserving of a larger and broader audience than its price tag will probably permit. James's research should go a long way towards achieving his aim of redeeming Errington's reputation for posterity.