Converts: From Oscar Wilde to Muriel Spark, Why So Many Became Catholic in the 20th Century -- Melanie McDonagh, Hardcover

Why did Catholicism attract so many unlikely converts in Britain during the twentieth century?

The twentieth century is understood as an era of growing, inexorable secularism, yet in Britain between the 1890s and the 1960s there was a marked turn to Rome. In the first half of the century, Catholicism became an intellectual and spiritual fashion attracting more than half a million converts, including fascinating artists, writers, and thinkers. What drew these men and women to join the church, and what difference did conversion make to them?

Melanie McDonagh examines the lives of these notable converts from the perspective of their faith. For the Decadent circle of Aubrey Beardsley and Oscar Wilde--who converted on his deathbed--artists such as Gwen John and David Jones, the philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe, and novelists including G. K. Chesterton, Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, and Muriel Spark, Catholicism offered stability in increasingly febrile times. McDonagh explores their lives and influences, the reaction to their conversions, and the priests who initiated them into their faith.

Author: Melanie McDonagh
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 01/06/2026
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780300266078

About the Author
Melanie McDonagh is a journalist who has written extensively about religion and ideas for the Spectator, The Times, and the Daily Telegraph. She is writer at large for the Evening Standard and leader writer for the Catholic Herald. She has a doctorate in history from the University of Cambridge.