Ten Popes Who Shook the World

by Eamon Duffy

Hardcover, 2011

Status

Available

Call number

Adult > History

Publication

Yale University Press (2011), 160 pages

Description

The Bishops of Rome have been Christianity's most powerful leaders for nearly two millennia, and their influence has extended far beyond the purely spiritual. The popes have played a central role in the history of Europe and the wider world, not only shouldering the spiritual burdens of their ancient office, but also in contending with - and sometimes precipitating - the cultural and political crises of their times. In an acclaimed series of BBC radio broadcasts Eamon Duffy explored the impact of ten popes he judged to be among 'the most influential in history'. With this book, readers may now also enjoy Duffy's portraits of ten exceptional men who shook the world.The book begins with St Peter, the Rock upon whom the Catholic Church was built, and follows with Leo the Great (fifth century), Gregory the Great (sixth century), Gregory VII (eleventh century), Innocent III (thirteenth century), Paul III (sixteenth century), and Pius IX (nineteenth century). Among twentieth-century popes, Duffy examines the lives and contributions of Pius XII, who was elected on the eve of the Second World War, the kindly John XXIII, who captured the world's imagination, and John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope in 450 years. Each of these ten extraordinary individuals, Duffy shows, shaped their own worlds, and in the process, helped to create ours.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member stillatim
Taken as what it is (more or less notes for a radio show) this is really great. It's kind of a tasting menu of Papal history- not much depth, it won't fill you with Papal knowledge, and sometimes the chapters seem a little free-floating. But then if you want all that, you can read his 'Saints and
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Sinners' instead. Here Duffy does a good job showing you the pros and cons of most of the popes, although there aren't many cons for John XIII, and you can see he's working really hard to find nice things to say about Pius IX. Method is radio friendly: he takes the one thing a given pope is best known for, tells that story, and moves on. Very well written; it makes me want to re-read S&S, which I probably didn't spend enough time on the first time around.
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Original language

English

Physical description

160 p.; 5.25 inches

ISBN

0300176880 / 9780300176889
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