Two of the most influential people in the way the Anglican Church has developed were Mary Magdalene and Anne Boleyn; more so than any pope or theologian. Forget the theories about Jesus' descendants. Mary Magdalene was written out of the Bible for a purpose, and Anne Boleyn was far more determined to break from Rome than Henry... Even religious history is written by the victors. In the patriarchal society of the last 7000 years, the writers of official versions of this have rarely been challenged. Suffragans from Suffragettes is a sometimes-irreverent look at the women who had an influence on the evolution of the Christian Churches and may just have helped to advance the eventual creation of women bishops in the Church of England. Suffragans from Suffragettes addresses some big unanswered questions, such as: Why is Bathsheba known only for her rooftop bathing? Was it the divine right of a pope to father a successor? What happened to Pope Joan and her child? Was Anne Boleyn more interested in securing the Protestant reformation than Henry's bed? These are a few of the vignettes that the reader can dip into in a book which does not ignore theology, but looks critically to some of its excessive dogmas. Bringing a light-hearted twist to a subject that has recently been debated in the theological world, Suffragans from Suffragettes will appeal to those interested in women's and religious history.

Nick Owen has been a churchwarden and an arts sponsorship promoter. As a former governor of Harrow School, he was responsible for the establishment of the John Lyon Charity and has written the history of its transformation through an Act of Parliament, from its obligation to repair roads to a multi-million pound youth charity.