Probably the finest alternative history ever written: Queen Elizabeth is assassinated in 1588, allowing the Pope back into England and changing the history of the future. But we really only see history being made on the periphery of this novel. It very rarely creeps to the foreground except for the astonishing final chapter of this story. It also breaks the mound of mosaic/ fix-up novels by being really good all the way through. It's literary, poetic, jam-packed with great ideas and a true classic.