Alexander Sedgwick

1953 The Ralliement in French Politics 1890-1898, by Alexander Sedgwick (read 3 Nov 1985) This is a rather specialized study, written in 1965, which is a good little book. It is a study of French conservative politics in the 1890's--the Church certainly faced a difficult path in those times. It had to restrain those who wanted to most vigorously champion the Church, since such championing would redound to the disadvantage of the Church. The Ralliement (begun after Cardinal Lavigerie's toast on Nov 12, 1890, asking "adherence without reservations" to the Republic) was "destroyed by the refusal of important elements among Catholics, Conservatives, and Republicans to admit that new political attitudes were necessary to cope with the increasing number of social and economic problems confronting France and other nations to the Western World." This book is a fascinating, though not brilliantly written, study which seeks to wend its way thru the tortuous paths of French political life in the 1890's. It may have been a bit too specialized for me, but it was fun to read and I am glad I did.
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1958 Jansenism in Seventeenth-Century France: Voices from the Wilderness, by Alexander Sedgwick (read 22 Nov 1985) This book did not live up to my expectations. It puts into English a lot of material drawn from French sources, but I found it short on analysis and synthesis: in other words, the author doesn't do much. It gives a history of Jansenism from its origins in the 1630's to Unigenitus in the early 18th century and much is of interest. But I really thought Pastor told me more than Sedgwick. Of course, this is a book of less than 250 pages.… (meer)