Prior to the latest Chief Rabbinical selection process, seven eminent rabbis wereappointed to British Jewry's highest ecclesiastical post, although only six wereinstalled and saw out their terms of office. The manner of their appointmentwas invariably coloured by intrigue, in-fighting and a host of other influences,not least an increasingly potent input by the dayanim of the London Beth Din,themselves not immune to strategic self-interest. Meir Persoff's scholarly yetreadable account of these seven appointments draws on a wealth of hithertounaccessed and unpublished material, and on the stories of many of the protagonists involved, including in fascinating detail those who, by fair meansand foul, failed to gain (or chose to reject) the coveted prize.