It was a joy to see a live audience after so long

Providence Lost By Paul Lay Head of Zeus, 352pp, £30/$49.95 On the face of it, the situation of English Catholics before the Civil War (perhaps five per cent of the population) looked promising. King Charles I had a devout Catholic queen, the French-born Henrietta Maria, who had a private chapel at St James’s Palace with,

Senior commanders were suspicious of the Church's peace efforts, and of Catholic soldiers

While Field Marshal Haig was worrying about Catholic 'taint', Benedict XV was assiduously seeking peace between warring nations