The King's Achievement (Benson)
This title features in "What England Lost: Benson's 'The King's Achievement'" on The Catholic Thing. Joseph Pearce shares part of the foreword at The Imaginative Conservative in "The Genius of Robert Hugh Benson", and reviews of it have appeared on Rorate Coeli, New Liturgical Movement, and Catholic365.
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With a new foreword by Joseph Pearce, seven specially commissioned illustrations by artist Jerzy Ozga, this entirely re-typeset version is the definitive edition of a classic, which, in the words of Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP, is "Enjoyable as it is edifying.”
One of the most coldly calculated acts of Henry VIII during the Reformations was the dissolution of the monasteries. Monks and nuns were driven from their cloisters; the abbeys were plundered and turned over to greedy courtiers. From these ignoble proceedings came Robert Hugh Benson’s inspiration for this great historical novel, the story of a house divided against itself. The Torridon brothers are sworn to serve different masters; one is a monk, in love with the Mass and the Faith of Ages, the other an agent of Thomas Cromwell, in love with a protege of Sir Thomas More. Among the giant figures who move through the tale are those of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, the ruthless King Henry VIII, and the grasping Cromwell. Their actual deeds are carefully woven into this harrowingly romantic tale of the attempted destruction and resilience of the Catholic Faith in England.
PRAISE FOR THE CENACLE PRESS EDITION OF By What Authority?
“A good story, excellently told—capable of inspiring deep love for the Faith and opening our eyes to the sufferings which have preserved it for us.”—Fr Aidan Nichols OP, St Michael’s College, Kingston, Jamaica
“Enjoyable as it is edifying, Benson’s historical novel The King’s Achievement helps us third-millennium readers become more familiar with the heroic times of anti-Catholic persecution in England.”—Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP, author X-ray of the Priest In A Field Hospital
“Breathe the air of a recusant household and family; rejoice in the triumphs of Divine Grace imagined in these absorbing pages: because this story is as exciting and as page-turning as a modern thriller.”—Fr John Hunwicke
“This precious, historical novel is essential reading to all those interested in the national and personal complexities of the English Reformation.”—Timothy Kelly PhD, Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford
Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson (1871–1914), the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was educated at Eton and Trinity College. Drawn toward the High-Church tradition, Benson was ordained an Anglican priest by his father, but began to investigate the claims of the Catholic Church during a trip to the Middle East in 1896. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1903 and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood the following year. Amid his various ecclesial duties, he was a well-known preacher and a prolific writer, and his works span many genres, including science and historical fiction, contemporary novels, children’s books, apologetics, plays, poetry, and devotional material.
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-7396241-2-5 €21.95 | Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-7396241-3-2 €29.95
