author
Douglas Woodruff
1897–1978
Best known for shaping The Tablet for more than three decades, he brought lively intelligence and strong convictions to British Catholic journalism. He also wrote widely on history and public life, leaving behind a reputation as an editor, essayist, and wit.
1 Audiobook
Plato's American Republic : Done out of the original
by Douglas Woodruff
About the author
Born in 1897, Douglas Woodruff was educated at Downside School and New College, Oxford. At Oxford he was active in debating, and later built a career that included teaching, work at The Times, and a long association with Catholic publishing and journalism.
He is most closely linked with The Tablet, the English Catholic weekly, which he edited from 1936 to 1967. Sources on his papers and on the history of the magazine also note his role during major mid-20th-century church events, including Vatican II, and his later position as chairman of Burns & Oates.
Woodruff also wrote books and articles on history and religion, with works including Charlemagne and Plato's American Republic. He died in 1978, remembered not only as a journalist and editor but as a distinctive Catholic public voice of his time.