Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy

from Alberto_MdH

Interesting initial approach to such a broad topic. Norwich's prose is agile and flows from one story to another with ease, leaving the reader wanting to delve into many of them (a great virtue in a book of this nature) The problem of the book is its own thematic breadth, which creates a lack of ...

from brewergirl

This was my first book by Norwich. I heard him discussing this book on Lewis Lapham's podcast at about the same time as I was watching the Showtime series on the Borgias. Nonetheless, it sat on my shelf for a year, and I just happened to be reading it when Pope Benedict announced his retirement. ...

from etxgardener

A history of the Papacy is not an easy chore as the institution has been in existence in one form or another for 2000 years, but author Julius Norwich manages to do so in a coherent and entertaining fashion. The first 1000 years of the Papacy focused on getting the church established, its rivalry...

from fist

Like all books by Norwich, this was a pleasure to read. In one big swoop from Saint-Peter to Ratzinger, the author provides the reader with clarity (not obvious with all those popes and their numerals), expansive historical background, anecdotes and more - all beautifully written. Norwich is more...

from stillatim

Perfectly good airport history. I'm stuck at around page 150 of Norwich's condensed history of the Byzantines, so I wasn't expecting much from this. But I've learned something very important about Mr. Norwich: if he's writing about things you know even reasonably well (e.g., for me, the early Byz...