The She Pope: A Quest for the Truth Behind The Mystery of Pope Joan

“Peter Stanford, with great skill, takes us back to earlier centuries, and juggles with a succession of delightfully named potentates of Church, winkling out fascinating, sometimes hilarious, facts and possibilities.” Carmen Callil : Daily Telegraph

“An utter delight, the She-Pope continues a tradition of shining light into obscure but fascinating corners of history.” Julie Wheelwright : Independent

‘A compelling account of one of the least-known stories in church history (that) unfolds like a good mystery yarn...thorough, intelligent and absorbing’ Boston Globe

‘The definitive study of an amazing legend’ Entertainment Weekly

Investigating the legend of Pope Joan - the English woman who, dressed as a man, allegedly headed the Catholic Church in the middle of the ninth century. Did she really fool the authorities and rise to the top of the all-male clerical hierarchy of Catholicism, or is her story folklore, based on an obviously impossible scenario? The book was the basis for a BBC 1 Everyman documentary presented and produced by the author, shown in December 1998.

Published in London by Heinemann in April 1998 and in New York as The Legend of Pope Joan by Henry Holt in October 1998. Separate German (Rutten & Loening and Aufbau Taschenbuch Verlag), Brazilian (Gryphus), Czech (Nakladatelstvi Svoboda) and Croatian editions. ISBN: UK hardback 0-434-02458-9; UK paperback 0-7493-2067-2; US hardback 0-8050-3910-4; US paperback (Berkley) 0-425-17347-X.  Available as an e-book