An increasing number of prominet figures in Britain today are reclaiming their historic Christian heritage through reception into the Catholic Church. This movement, which now includes even members of the Royal Family, provides echoes of a smiliar surge of converts during the last century, when members of many of Britain's noblest and most ancient famlies came to contribute so much to the restoration of the Catholic faith.

In this fascinating account of the lives of 19th century converts to Roman Catholicism amongst the British aristocracy, Madelaine Beard paints an impression of both the actual journeys and the hidden journeys to Rome. She describes the intangible and mysterious promptings which led many to become Roman Catholics, some without having even set foot in the Eternal City. The scarifices they had made as members of society were truly recompenses by the knowledge that they had become members of the True Church.

A graduate of University College in London and Jesuit College Cambridge, Madelaine Beard's first book English Landed Society in the Twentieth Century was published by Routledge in 1989.