St John Henry Newman’s thinking is notoriously difficult to summarise. His contribution to theology and the life of the Church is wide ranging, and his output vast. Scholars entering the field of Newman studies are confronted with a daunting array of sources: around forty five major works, including those published posthumously, and thirty two substantial volumes of correspondence. Added to this is a body of secondary literature, of varying quality, produced by what is often described as the Newman industry. How, then, does Fr Hermann Geissler manage to distil so much learning into a slim 120 page book on the latest, and thirty eighth, Doctor of the Universal Church?