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A Danger to the State: A Historical Novel
Book by Trower, Philip
475 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 20, 2025
This book is phenomenal! Once I started it, I could hardly put it down ... so not much sleep the last few nights. I would not call myself a fan of the Jesuits, but then I don’t know enough about them to have an opinion, favorable or not.
I did the Spiritual Exercises back in 2004-5 in a yearlong version called, Retreat in Daily Life, which greatly benefited my spiritual and prayer life. Aside from that, and the Jesuit-trained Spiritual Director I had from then until she died in 2014, I knew little about the order, except that they were founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola to combat the Protestant-heresy, especially in England in the 16th century and they suffered many martyrdoms during that tumultuous time.
Also, I remember reading/hearing they had been suppressed sometime later, but how and why, was not clear. This novel clarified that! If I didn’t have so much other reading to do now, I’d drop everything and dive into nothing else but Jesuit history. Amazing what these brave men suffered when they were evicted, first from Portugal, then France and, as described in this book, from Spain. The Spanish priests were rounded up like criminals with only the clothes on their backs, held captive, loaded on filthy prisoner ships, all their property seized and sent from one place to another like vagabonds because no one wanted them. It is a heart-breaking story.
No time now to write the kind of review this book deserves, but I cannot recommend it highly enough! Although the author refuses to say outright that the suppression of the order in France caused the subsequent bloody Revolution, it does seem the writings of the liberal philosophes (Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, etc.) contributed significantly to an overall lack of faith in Europe especially among the ‘catholic’ monarchs ultimately to their own demise.
Trower tells the little-known story of the bravery of these priests and those devoted to them who suffered unspeakable horrors as well as the devasting destruction of the Reductions in South America where the Jesuits were thought to have hidden vast riches, but in reality, the wealth was in the peaceful life which had been founded for a brief space of time for the native population. A Christian Camelot; its loss a terrible tragedy.
I did the Spiritual Exercises back in 2004-5 in a yearlong version called, Retreat in Daily Life, which greatly benefited my spiritual and prayer life. Aside from that, and the Jesuit-trained Spiritual Director I had from then until she died in 2014, I knew little about the order, except that they were founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola to combat the Protestant-heresy, especially in England in the 16th century and they suffered many martyrdoms during that tumultuous time.
Also, I remember reading/hearing they had been suppressed sometime later, but how and why, was not clear. This novel clarified that! If I didn’t have so much other reading to do now, I’d drop everything and dive into nothing else but Jesuit history. Amazing what these brave men suffered when they were evicted, first from Portugal, then France and, as described in this book, from Spain. The Spanish priests were rounded up like criminals with only the clothes on their backs, held captive, loaded on filthy prisoner ships, all their property seized and sent from one place to another like vagabonds because no one wanted them. It is a heart-breaking story.
No time now to write the kind of review this book deserves, but I cannot recommend it highly enough! Although the author refuses to say outright that the suppression of the order in France caused the subsequent bloody Revolution, it does seem the writings of the liberal philosophes (Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, etc.) contributed significantly to an overall lack of faith in Europe especially among the ‘catholic’ monarchs ultimately to their own demise.
Trower tells the little-known story of the bravery of these priests and those devoted to them who suffered unspeakable horrors as well as the devasting destruction of the Reductions in South America where the Jesuits were thought to have hidden vast riches, but in reality, the wealth was in the peaceful life which had been founded for a brief space of time for the native population. A Christian Camelot; its loss a terrible tragedy.
April 27, 2009
Quite a page turner from the beginning. If you like a different view of history that the one that is prevalent (after all, the victors generally write the history) you'll like this book about the Jesuit persecution and hatred in the late 18th century. Once again, if things had happened differently... There are two constants however, one - man is bound to sin and evil and two - God is bound to man and His love is great.
February 23, 2010
Good historical novel about the French Enlightenment's crusade against the Church generally and in particular Jesuits, and the success of that crusade.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews