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Review
`Norwich certainly has an eye for the tiny detail that illuminates a whole character' --Daily Mail
`While this is a big book on a complex topic, it is a manageable one, displaying urbane literary skill' --The Tablet
`A highly readable book' --The Sunday Times
`Rattlingly stylish' --Tribune Magazine
`light spring reading for the serious-minded' --The Spectator
`to keep such a light touch, without sacrificing academic seriousness, is a distinct achievement' --The Independent
`sharp, fun and wonderfully energetic' --The Scotsman
`entertaining' --The Sunday Telegraph
`charming and learned'...'The prose is elegant, the witticisms are plentiful, and the volume's enthusiasm is addictive.' --BBC History Magazine, Jonathan Wright
`One of the most bizarre and enjoyable history books I've ever read' --Daily Express, Duncan Fallowell
`Stylish and enjoyably opinionated'
--Observer, Diarmaid MacCulloch
`John Julius Norwich is a writer of formidable talent, master of graceful style and vivid turn of phrase'
--TLS
`Effortlessly readable' --Country Life, David Goodall
John Julius Norwich 'approaches his vast canvas with broad brush strokes, dashing off profile after profile with aplomb, flashes of wit and a formidable accumulation of detail.'
--FT
'Entertaining Stuff' --The Lady The Lady
`entertaining stuff' --The Lady
`an elegantly written page-turner' --The Oldie
`This a remarkable book...Lord Norwich writes with precision and wit and the text is highly entertaining' --Scottish Catholic Observer
`While this is a big book on a complex topic, it is a manageable one, displaying urbane literary skill' --The Tablet
`A highly readable book' --The Sunday Times
`Rattlingly stylish' --Tribune Magazine
`light spring reading for the serious-minded' --The Spectator
`to keep such a light touch, without sacrificing academic seriousness, is a distinct achievement' --The Independent
`sharp, fun and wonderfully energetic' --The Scotsman
`entertaining' --The Sunday Telegraph
`charming and learned'...'The prose is elegant, the witticisms are plentiful, and the volume's enthusiasm is addictive.' --BBC History Magazine, Jonathan Wright
`One of the most bizarre and enjoyable history books I've ever read' --Daily Express, Duncan Fallowell
`Stylish and enjoyably opinionated'
--Observer, Diarmaid MacCulloch
`John Julius Norwich is a writer of formidable talent, master of graceful style and vivid turn of phrase'
--TLS
`Effortlessly readable' --Country Life, David Goodall
John Julius Norwich 'approaches his vast canvas with broad brush strokes, dashing off profile after profile with aplomb, flashes of wit and a formidable accumulation of detail.'
--FT
'Entertaining Stuff' --The Lady The Lady
`entertaining stuff' --The Lady
`an elegantly written page-turner' --The Oldie
`This a remarkable book...Lord Norwich writes with precision and wit and the text is highly entertaining' --Scottish Catholic Observer
Book Description
An irresistible account of some of history's most illustrious - and iniquitous - figures, from one of our best-loved historians.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
64 of 69 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book would be best described as a short history of the position of Pope and some of the personalities who have held it. If you compare it to a book about the Roman Emperors say, or the British Royal Family, then you'll get some idea of the vastness of the subject matter and the difficulty of distilling it into 500 odd pages then becomes obvious. So it is not exhaustive, it is not particularly detailed but it is very, very readable and engages one's interest throughout. The author is apparently a well known agnostic and so has given, at least to my non-catholic mind, a reasoned and fair assessment of the various, disparate men who have held the post. There are one or two jarring moments however that pass without further reference or source quoted because although there is a bibliography there are few footnotes and no endnotes with specific reference to many of the statements made.
Some of the author's own comments such as, "A strong vein of anti-Semitism had always run through catholic thinking" when discussing the Vatican's response to the Holocaust while being backed up by a list of organisations that apparently professed such views, will no doubt be questioned by some.
Obviously some popes get more attention than others, especially if there has been some scandal attached, but all in all this serves as a decent introduction to the office of Pope and will ignite interest in seeking out some more detailed works.
I do hope that potential readers will not let their religion (or lack of same) prevent them reading this book as this would be like not reading a book about American Presidents because you are not from the USA.
Some of the author's own comments such as, "A strong vein of anti-Semitism had always run through catholic thinking" when discussing the Vatican's response to the Holocaust while being backed up by a list of organisations that apparently professed such views, will no doubt be questioned by some.
Obviously some popes get more attention than others, especially if there has been some scandal attached, but all in all this serves as a decent introduction to the office of Pope and will ignite interest in seeking out some more detailed works.
I do hope that potential readers will not let their religion (or lack of same) prevent them reading this book as this would be like not reading a book about American Presidents because you are not from the USA.
33 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Viscount Norwich has written many history books, and his skill as a writer is evident in all of them.
In this work, he is writing more as a compiler than as a direct researcher: he is very dependent on the works of others for his facts - something he fully acknowledges-, and though he overlays these with his own views and his great narrative skill, that dependence on others shows in this book more than usually. Given the range of material he has had to work through, it would be astonishing if he had time to assess the value of everything he uses, and to check the facts that he passes on. Sad to say, too many factual errors have slipped through for comfort.
The following are chosen just for illustration, rather than with any aim of completeness. Luke is not regarded as the first evangelist by any reputable scholar. Nor is Polycarp "suspected" of writing the Pauline epistles, or any of them. Norwich writes that he can find no church in Perugia dedicated to S. Lorenzo; it's the duomo (cathedral), as thirty seconds with Google will reveal.
Then, he says that Victor II is buried in the Mausoleum of Theodoric at Ravenna. This is an interesting one, because it is repeated over and over as a "fact" by multiple authors, all of whom rely on a single report that his body was laid there to avoid trouble - which may just mean a temporary stay. So one can't totally blame Norwich for repeating it: but none of these scholars have checked what is available about the Mausoleum. If they had, they'd soon find the truth: the Mausoleum of Theodoric is empty, and has been for some hundreds of years. It has got a beautiful porphyry coffin, true; but the absence of a lid means any visitor can see for themselves that the guidebooks are right. It's not clear if anyone has ever been buried there, but there's no-one at home now, nor is there any clue I'm aware of as to where Victor II's body is.
This lack of care is uncharacteristic of Norwich, but it does mean that the book can't be relied on. He's generally fine on the Popes that he writes about at length, but those he skips over he did skip over, so to speak.
For a reliable and very readable book, one can do worse than do as he did, and read Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes (Yale Nota Bene) which is one of his sources.
In this work, he is writing more as a compiler than as a direct researcher: he is very dependent on the works of others for his facts - something he fully acknowledges-, and though he overlays these with his own views and his great narrative skill, that dependence on others shows in this book more than usually. Given the range of material he has had to work through, it would be astonishing if he had time to assess the value of everything he uses, and to check the facts that he passes on. Sad to say, too many factual errors have slipped through for comfort.
The following are chosen just for illustration, rather than with any aim of completeness. Luke is not regarded as the first evangelist by any reputable scholar. Nor is Polycarp "suspected" of writing the Pauline epistles, or any of them. Norwich writes that he can find no church in Perugia dedicated to S. Lorenzo; it's the duomo (cathedral), as thirty seconds with Google will reveal.
Then, he says that Victor II is buried in the Mausoleum of Theodoric at Ravenna. This is an interesting one, because it is repeated over and over as a "fact" by multiple authors, all of whom rely on a single report that his body was laid there to avoid trouble - which may just mean a temporary stay. So one can't totally blame Norwich for repeating it: but none of these scholars have checked what is available about the Mausoleum. If they had, they'd soon find the truth: the Mausoleum of Theodoric is empty, and has been for some hundreds of years. It has got a beautiful porphyry coffin, true; but the absence of a lid means any visitor can see for themselves that the guidebooks are right. It's not clear if anyone has ever been buried there, but there's no-one at home now, nor is there any clue I'm aware of as to where Victor II's body is.
This lack of care is uncharacteristic of Norwich, but it does mean that the book can't be relied on. He's generally fine on the Popes that he writes about at length, but those he skips over he did skip over, so to speak.
For a reliable and very readable book, one can do worse than do as he did, and read Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes (Yale Nota Bene) which is one of his sources.
37 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I would highly recommend this book as I think it is a readable and very enjoyable introduction to the subject. The conflicts and difficulties in establishing the primacy of the Vatican are brought out particularly strongly. The authorial voice is lively and engaging, and the coverage of topics cannot be detailed, but I would say is adequate and well-balanced. It is written in a fast-paced narrative style - and it has really sparked my interest in the topic.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
John Julius Norwich does it again.
Great Book. Well written Informative, humerous and well researched. Joy to read. Could not put it down once I had started to read it. Glad I purchased it. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Stuart
Readable scholarship
I'm not qualified to say whether the author's interpretations of history are correct but this book certainly seemed so to me. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Bluebell
A good read of course ...
... (Norwich is incapable of writing other than entertainingly) but not his best, and I suspect not the best book on the subject. Read more
Published 9 months ago by bookelephant
A detailed history
This is a subject about which I knew little. I have found the book very interesting and although written fairly light-heartedly the high factual content is such that I find that I... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Ken
Superb!
Highly entertaining, Norwich's writing was a delight. He managed to include enough detail of individuals to bring them alive with a concise and clear account of the wider... Read more
Published 10 months ago by M E Clarkson
Fantastic
This is a great book full of information, This book taught me so much about the Popes and religion in general. The book is well researched and contains all the information needed. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Calum
A great read.
I like this book, it deals with the history of the Bishops, of rome, namely the Popes. Some of them were, bloodthirsting lechers, others were hardworking pious men. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Perfectbub
One of Mr Norwich's weaker efforts
I have enjoyed past efforts by John Julius Norwich particularly his 3 part history of Byzantium, which is a must read for anyone who seeks to understand that particular topic. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Danny Klepac
A Fascinating History
John Julius Norwich presents us with a thoroughly readable, well-concived and fascinating history of the papacy and its occupants including their influence on both religion, the... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Seeker
What Popes?
Lives up to review I read in the paper. Interesting items on the origination of popes, how they started to wield power from Rome after some time. Read more
Published 12 months ago by J Stewart
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