Our Lady of the Nations by Chris Maunder OUP, £25 It seems reasonable to suggest that when Catholics feel threatened or culturally out of step they “seek divine sanction for alternatives”. Does this account, as Chris Maunder would have us believe, for the proliferation and potency of Marian visions “during periods of ideological conflict and rapid social change”? Perhaps they were an ideal way for Catholics to respond to the rationalist, egalitarian ideals of the French Revolution. Perhaps the legacy of the famous events at Fatima in 1917 was so powerful because it pointed towards the “eventual demise of Soviet communism”. Perhaps we should not be surprised by the cluster of apparitions in 1930s Belgium because this was a period of uncertainty and “angst”. Many other examples are provided and you may be concerned that Maunder is setting up a rather simplistic causal link between turmoil and apparitions. He is eager to allay such fears and goes some way towards succeeding. He wisely warns us against any kind of reductionist analysis and finds time to quote Cheryl Porte, a Missionary Sister of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: “The presence of psychological or political factors does not simply blot out the religious reality of the apparitional experience.” That’s reassuring, but such concerns about the veracity or authenticity of visions are simply not part of Maunder’s bailiwick. This, he announces at the outset, is purely a work of “social and cultural history”. As such, it covers many worthwhile topics. The sections on how the Church examines reports of Marian visions are particularly informative, and Maunder looks closely at the varied content of apparitions, ranging from apocalyptic warnings about God’s punishments to messages of consolation and divine love. It would also seem that women are being increasingly favoured with experiences of Mary: between 1100 and 1896 just over 40 per cent of visionaries were female (someone has done the painstaking maths), but this rocketed to 70 per cent during the 20th century.