Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes; Fourth Edition

The best book on the papacy I have come upon. Duffy is objective, but doesn't gloss over and spare the reader any of the intrigue that has accompanied this institution. It's a piece of high dollar scholarship that is also a page turner. No small feat.

I'm still plowing through this book, slowly but surely. This history covers all the popes, and much of it is as exhilarating and as gruesome (to our modern sensibilities) as you can imagine. The papacy has been changed by politics--internal, state, and foreign--as well as being the major force for determining what we should believe. Please consider, when you decide to tackle this book, how much the theology has changed through the centuries as well as how the forces that have shaped Catholicism also transforms every other religion. This book does not (and should not) change your faith, but it does clear some of the whitewash that hides the real story.

I didn't know what I hoped to get from this book. But at the end, I was satisfied.The bookmarklet touches on theology. It's much more a book about the Church as an organization. (Spoiler alert: lots of disappointing information here for those who believe in the innate holiness of the Church\Pope)He doesn't do biographies of each Pope (and not surprisingly, he has much more details about 20th century popes than earlier ones).I found the book very informative and, to be honest, surprisingly readable. There were some dry, dense sections to wade through. But overall I found it very readable.

DUFFY IS OK WITH POST COUNCIL CHANGES IN CHURCH AND HOPEFUL OF EVEN GREATER THINGSHISTORY OF POPES HEAVILY EDITED AND SANITIZED / ALAS POOR DUFFY - I THOUGHT I KNEW HIMWHERE HAVE'NT I READ THIS BLATHER BEFORE? THE MOUNTAIN LABOURED MIGHTILY AND BROUGHT FORTH A MOUSE...

Eamon Duffy's history of the papacy is an intriguing study of the men and the institution.It also provides a snapshot of the history of Western civilization over 2,millennia.

Replete with detail. Honest.

ordered from their gift list.

Duffy's timely and thought-provoking history of the papacy introduces the reader to the rise of the centralized papacy and the older collegial model of Church governance, revived by Pope John XXIII and now by Pope Francis. The author's work deserved five stars but he was poorly served by the publisher's careless conversion of the print version to a Kindle e-book. OCR errors are frequent; some truly absurd as when the bishop of Arles in southern France is consistently transposed into the zodiac as the bishop of Aries and the Ottonian Emperor's influence over the Church is transferred to the Ottoman Emperor. Such a fine book should have been proofread more carefully.

This has to be the go-to volume for anyone wanting to understand the evolution of the papacy and of the Catholic church. Very well researched and written.

The most helpful and concise history of the Church from the beginning to now. Amazing skill to write over 2000 years history into one book. A theology student will find it useful and a general reader will find it entertaining.

After reading a lot of early European history during the past weeks, I wanted to read a book that would help me understand "who was who" in the papacy during this period and what all of the religious controversies were about. Unfortunately, this book left me as confused about the popes as I was before I read it. The main reason for this is that the events of the Middle Ages are only sketched out in a way that would only make sense to people who already had a good understanding of the period.The book gets better starting with the 19th century. The popes are fleshed out more as are the religious and political issues. The best chapter is the last one as it provides very detailed analyses of the most modern popes. The book provides a useful glossary as well as a nice list of all the popes.

a good read, but a long way yet to go

This was purchased for a friend and no feedback has been received.