Peter Stanford - The Legend of Pope Joan: The She-Pope

The legend of Pope Joan the woman who, dressed as a man, headed the Catholic church in the early ninth century has always been a subject of fascinated speculation but rarely, until now, the subject of serious research. As the future over women in the catholic priesthood continues, and the Church, which once took her story as gospel, now tries to play down the rumours, it is time for a reappraisal. Here Peter Stanford, author of The Devil: A Biography, reveals what can, and cannot, be known of this incredible story, and of the extraordinary woman behind it. In this fascinating account, ranging from secret histories to conspiracy theories, medieval carvings to tarot cards, women priests to cross-dressing clerics, and from romantic fiction to hard facts, he delivers a major study of historical detective work.

Peter Stanford is a journalist and broadcaster who writes and reviews regularly in the Independent Saturday Magazine, the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph. He presents The Mission on Channel 5 and has been a panellist on the popular BBC series The Moral Maze, Vice or Virtue and Future Watch. A former editor of the Catholic Herald, he presented the award-winning Channel 4 series Catholics and Sex and co-wrote the accompanying book. His other books include biographies of Lord Longford and Cardinal Basil Hume, and the international bestseller The Devil: A Biography, which was made into a major BBC TV series. In December 1998 he produced and presented a BBC Everyman documentary based on The She-Pope. He lives in London with his wife and son and is Chairman of the disability charity ASPIRE.