| The Professor and the Parson: A Story of Desire, Deceit, and Defrocking Contributor(s): Sisman, Adam (Author) |
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ISBN: 1640093281 ISBN-13: 9781640093287 Publisher: Counterpoint LLC OUR PRICE: $23.40 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: February 2020 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - True Crime | Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions - History | Europe - Great Britain - 20th Century - History | Modern - 20th Century |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 2019026530 |
| Physical Information: 1.1" H x 5.7" W x 8.4" (0.90 lbs) 256 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 20th Century - Cultural Region - British Isles - Religious Orientation - Christian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This "amusing and elegantly written" romp takes readers on a wild ride through the life of Robert Parkin Peters (The New York Times Book Review)--a liar, bigamist, and fraudulent priest who tricked some of the brightest minds of his generation. One day in November 1958, the celebrated historian Hugh Trevor-Roper received a curious letter. It was an appeal for help, written on behalf of a student at Magdalen College, with the unlikely claim that he was being persecuted by the Bishop of Oxford. Curiosity piqued, Trevor-Roper agreed to a meeting. It was to be his first encounter with Robert Parkin Peters: plagiarist, bigamist, fraudulent priest, and imposter extraordinaire. The Professor and the Parson is a witty and charming portrait of eccentricity, extraordinary narcissism, and a life as wild and unlikely as any in fiction. Motivated not by money but by a desire for prestige, Peters lied, stole, and cheated his way to academic positions and religious posts from Cambridge to New York. Frequently deported, and even more frequently discovered, he left a trail of destruction including seven marriages (three of which were bigamous) and an investigation by the FBI. "I was captivated from start to finish by this utterly mad, and wholly delightful story of chicanery and fantasy, and which involves a man who relentlessly duped our most cherished institutions of godly pursuit and higher learning. Plus I learned how to defrock a priest, always good to have on hand in these troubling times." --Simon Winchester, author of The Perfectionists |
Contributor Bio(s): Sisman, Adam: - ADAM SISMAN is the author of Boswell's Presumptuous Task, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, and the biographer of John Le Carré, A. J. P. Taylor, and Hugh Trevor-Roper. Among his other works are two volumes of letters by Patrick Leigh Fermor. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an honorary fellow of the University of St Andrews. |