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ajreader's review against another edition
3.0
Read this for my History of the Papacy course. Pretty dry, but so much information. A good resource, but I wouldn't read it for fun.
zmb's review against another edition
3.0
A solid history of the papacy. I thought the author started out a bit partisan, but he was certainly willing to be critical of the popes for whom we have good historical information, and especially of the reactionary Piuses. There's a definite focus on modern (post-French Revolution) popes, and kind of a weird glossing over between the Council of Trent and the Revolution, but that's where my knowledge of the papacy was at its weakest so it wasn't a bad thing to me.
caidyn's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.0
For how much time this book covers, it's pretty quick. As usual, I find it more interesting from 1000-1600s, but I still enjoyed all of it.
sschloo24's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Less a history of the Pope's than of the papacy and how it has chamged moved through history.
ianbanks's review against another edition
4.0
Terrific survey of the history of Catholicism from the viewpoint of the pontiff. Filled with tidbits and told from the widest of perspectives it is an entertaining read that informed, educates and gives the reader a plethora of historical nuggets to drop into conversations.
gretacwink's review against another edition
3.0
I guess I expected this to be way more gossipy than it is. This is real history. That's good...right? Is it bad that I was hoping for a trashy history of the popes? Is it my fault it's titled like a pulp fiction novel from the 50s?
It seems very detailed, but considering how much history it covers, it goes pretty fast. It's just really, really hard to keep straight.
It seems very detailed, but considering how much history it covers, it goes pretty fast. It's just really, really hard to keep straight.
mechankily's review against another edition
3.0
It is what it says on the tin. It's a history of the Popes. It starts at the start and goes to Pope Francis. The author *is* a Catholic, but it's not *too* religious. I was kinda hoping for a general history of the Catholic church, or Christiainty, but as I said, it does what it says on the tin.
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