Catherine Pepinster was editor of The Tablet for 13 years. During that time she had an unrivalled view of relations between the Catholic and the Anglican Churches and she writes about them with fluency and enthusiasm, covering their historical development and their tensions as well as their common interests today. She is particularly strong on the relationships between the three Popes on whom she focuses – John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis – and the Archbishops of Canterbury with whom they interacted, including the papal visits to Britain in 1982 and 2010. She shows a deep understanding of the structure and indeed personalities of the Vatican, from which, as a non-Catholic, I learned a great deal, and for which I am grateful. For, as she rightly says, “the ancient institution of the Vatican remains difficult to penetrate and remains mysterious to outsiders.”