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A review by wescovington
Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy by John Julius Norwich
3.0
Norwich tries to take an exhaustive look at the political power of the Papacy, but the work is somewhat exhausting. As he tries to cover something about EVERY pope, you get bogged down in the weeds of medieval history, which even someone who likes that era, had a hard time following.
The book ends with Pope Benedict still in charge. In the final chapters, Norwich takes a much more confrontational stance against Popes he felt were not (and they weren't very good) with Pius XII given even harsher treatment than the Borgia and Medici popes of the Renaissance. John XXIII gets a surprisingly short treatment despite his rather large impact on the Catholic Church today.
The book ends with Pope Benedict still in charge. In the final chapters, Norwich takes a much more confrontational stance against Popes he felt were not (and they weren't very good) with Pius XII given even harsher treatment than the Borgia and Medici popes of the Renaissance. John XXIII gets a surprisingly short treatment despite his rather large impact on the Catholic Church today.