We live in an age of faithlessness, spin and cynicism; a world where religious belief is derided and there is increasing hostility to Christian values. How many of us would have the fortitude to stand on a scaffold, a rope around our neck, facing the most gruesome of deaths, having committed no apparent crime, and choose not to recant and live but to die for our beliefs? How many of us, like Thomas Garnet, would say, 'I give my body to Caesar [James I] and my soul to God.' Thirty years of research have gone into the writing of this comprehensive compilation of the lives and state murders of Catholics from all walks of life in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Vividly set in the context of the turbulent times in which they lived it makes compelling reading. A moving, fearful and inspiring narrative it demands our attention as a reinforcement of Christian commitment and an antidote to indifference. Malcolm Pullan's stated aim is to reach a general readership, sadly all too often kept in ignorance of the truth of this awful, dark period in our history. His text is full of illuminating background material and fascinating detail. Notwithstanding the present 'ecumenical' age, he contends that these men and women were the real heroes of their epoch, and firmly believes that the Catholic martyrs of England and Wales should not be consigned to some obscure corner of our consciousness: their sacrificial witness should be unapologetically extolled and celebrated. Their Faith, the 'Faith of our fathers' lives still: they were true to it till death. They did not die in vain.

In an age of faithlessness, spin and cynicism, how many of us would be prepared to stand on a ladder, a rope around our neck, facing a gruesome death for no apparent crime, and choose not to recant and live but to die for our beliefs? How many of us, like Thomas Garnet, would say, 'I give my body to Caesar [James I] and my soul to God'? This compelling and finely researched compilation of the lives and state murders of Catholics from all walks of life in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries demands our attention as a reinforcement of Christian commitment and an antidote to indifference. Malcolm Pullan's stated aim is to reach a general readership, and his text is full of historical background material and fascinating detail. He firmly believes that we should not consign England's Catholic martyrs to some obscure corner of our consciousness. Their Faith lives still; they were true to it till death. Surely they did not die in vain.