The history of this book is almost as interesting as its subject. The first serious attempt to write a biography of campaigning priest Michael Scott was made by Observer journalist Cyril Dunn in the spring of 1974.

Dunn interviewed Scott but abandoned the project because he felt defeated by the complexities of his subject's personality. After Scott's death, Mr Dunn gave all his notes to Observer editor David Astor, who then selected Anne Yates as a successor.

Like Dunn, she conducted a wide range of interviews, but found that her main task was mastering the huge quantity of papers which had been lodged in Oxford University's Rhodes House.

The Scott papers fill 100 large boxes, many of them uncatalogued. By the time of her death in 2000, she was close to completing a first draft of the manuscript, and Mr Astor invited Lewis Chester to finish the biography.

Chester, an award-winning journalist, has done an admirable job in pulling together the work of his predecessors.

He ensures that the story of Michael Scott, a key figure in the struggles against apartheid, is allowed to flow, although the narrative is packed with detail, and often backed up by well-chosen quotations.

This is an engaging book about the life of an intriguing man, and Chapter 17, Crisis in Oxford, provides added interest for local readers. In July, 1955, the Rev Scott was charged with indecent exposure after nude sunbathing at Parson's Pleasure, a long-standing tradition in the city. His friend David Astor used his journalistic know-how to keep the story under wraps and Scott's reputation remained unsullied.

But this minor aberration should not overshadow the story of a man who, throughout his life, was imprisoned because of the strength of his convictions.

In a preface, Desmond Tutu says: "I was among the many in the black community who held him in a very high regard for what we considered a conspicuous act of solidarity with the poor and downtrodden of our land."

Chester, in his introduction, saves his warmest thanks for Elizabeth Welsh, Anne Yates's younger daughter, who lives off Botley Road, for maintaining her faith in the project.

The Troublemaker, Anne Yates & Lewis Chester, (Aurum, £14.99)