Bibliograph

The professor & the parson, a story of desire, deceit and defrocking, by Adam Sisman

Type

Label

The professor & the parson, a story of desire, deceit and defrocking, by Adam Sisman

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references and index

resource.biographical

contains biographical information

Illustrations

facsimilesillustrationsportraits

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The professor & the parson

Nature of contents

bibliography

Responsibility statement

by Adam Sisman

Sub title

a story of desire, deceit and defrocking

Summary

One day in November 1958, the celebrated historian Hugh Trevor-Roper received a curious letter. It was an appeal for help, written on behalf of a student at Magdalen College, with the unlikely claim that he was being persecuted by the Bishop of Oxford. Curiosity piqued, Trevor-Roper agreed to a meeting. It was to be his first encounter with Robert Parkin Peters: plagiarist, bigamist, fraudulent priest and imposter extraordinaire. The Professor and the parson traces the strange career of one of Britain's most eccentric criminals. Motivated not by money but by a desire for prestige, Peters' lied, stole and cheated his way to academic positions and religious posts from Cambridge to New York, Singapore and South Africa. Frequently deported, and even more frequently discovered, his trail of destruction included seven marriages (three of which were bigamous), an investigation by the FBI and a disastrous appearance on Mastermind. Based on Trevor-Roper's own detailed 'file on Peters', The Professor and the parson is a witty and charming account of eccentricity, extraordinary narcissism and a life as wild and unlikely as any in fiction

resource.variantTitle

Professor and the parson

Classification