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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
informative
fast-paced
informative
So the premise of this book is fascinating, unveiling some of the secret history of the excavation of the Necropolis beneath St. Peter’s basilica. I have two difficulties with it. First, it is not terribly well- written. Parts are repetitive, and there is one page where I think he uses the word “genius” ten times in three paragraphs. The story, which does indeed read like a “real-life Dan Brown novel” would have been far more compelling with better writing. The second difficulty I have is with the question of the truth of this “true” story. Nearly all of the citations in the book reference a single author. And quite a few of the citations are dubious internet sources. And yet the author asserts as clear fact things that do not have overwhelming research consensus. That is partly understandable, because the author is trying to tell a story which he claims has been squashed for political reasons. That may indeed be true. But his story would have been better served if he had used higher quality and more diverse sources, and if he had stated things in a way that acknowledged the shocking nature of his claims. By merely stating them as facts, he undermined his own reliability. Still, a fun read that tells a mostly untold story. I’ll simply take it with a grain of salt.
Quite amazing!! Even full of scandal!! What a thrilling read!!
adventurous
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
I was not prepared to like a book about archeology this much. Wow!
Great book for a history enthusiast
This book is interesting. Not a quick read but worth the read if you are interested in the tomb of Peter and the story of how his bones were found.
This book is interesting. Not a quick read but worth the read if you are interested in the tomb of Peter and the story of how his bones were found.
This is an interesting short book about a little known event in history: the Vatican looking for the bones of Peter the apostle. No one actually knows if what was eventually found was Peter, although there is a lot of circumstantial evidence that supports the finding: the bones were of a man who was 60-70 years old, the feet had been cut off (the Romans did this to quickly get a dead body down off of a cross), some of the clothes found dated to the first century, etc.
What I found most fascinating about the book was that the Vatican sent someone over to ask a Texas oilman named John Strake to fund the entire dig, which he agreed to do as long as it was anonymous. Strake apparently was involved in a lot of philanthropy (mainly for the Catholic Church, but beyond that also) and always insisted that his contributions be anonymous. He sold Glen Eyrie outside Colorado Springs to the Navigators ministry. Interesting guy.
What I found most fascinating about the book was that the Vatican sent someone over to ask a Texas oilman named John Strake to fund the entire dig, which he agreed to do as long as it was anonymous. Strake apparently was involved in a lot of philanthropy (mainly for the Catholic Church, but beyond that also) and always insisted that his contributions be anonymous. He sold Glen Eyrie outside Colorado Springs to the Navigators ministry. Interesting guy.
Very interesting topic. Writing leaves much to be desired.
informative
slow-paced