Sons of St Patrick

Sons of St Patrick: A History of the Archbishops of New York from Dagger John to Timmytown by George J Marlin and Brad Miner, 421 pages

Sons of St Patrick chronicles the lives and careers of the ten archbishops of New York (Irishmen all), from the combative John Hughes, whose pugnacity earned him the nickname "Dagger John", through his alternately outspoken and reserved, engaged and aloof, feared and beloved successors, down to the legendarily gregarious current occupant of the chair inside New York's St Patrick's Cathedral, Timothy Cardinal Dolan.  In the process, it also provides a kind of core sample of American Catholic history, from the humble beginnings of the Church in the US, through the immigration boom of the 19th century, the rapid establishment of Catholic educational and charitable institutions, the emergence of Catholics into the mainstream of American life and culture, and the resurgence of anti-Catholic prejudice in the late 20th century, while also covering the internal struggles over trusteeism, Americanism, modernism, and human sexuality.

Marlin and Miner approach their subjects charitably but not uncritically.  Their initial brisk pace becomes increasingly slow as their story moves through the decades, mirroring the shift - however much some of their subjects resisted it - from the bishop as spiritual leader to bureaucratic manager.  Thankfully, the authors' wit and care sustain the reader through even the dullest subjects.