This volume investigates the pivotal transition of John Henry Newman from his time in Rome to his establishment of the Oratory in Birmingham during the years 1847 to 1848. The editor, Charles Stephen Dessain, provides a rigorous scholarly framework that contextualizes Newman's correspondence and personal journals within the broader ecclesiastical and social shifts of the mid-nineteenth century. By presenting these primary documents with extensive commentary, the text illuminates the internal and external pressures Newman faced during his post-conversion period.

Scholars and historians regard this series as the definitive collection for studying the life and thought of John Henry Newman. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the meticulous nature of the editorial work provided by Dessain.