Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes
This engrossing book encompasses the extraordinary history of the papacy, from its beginnings nearly two thousand years ago to the present day. In this new edition, the final chapter has been expanded to cover the last years of John Paul II and the election of Benedict XVI.\ Praise for the earlier editions:\ “[A] minor masterpiece which is everything good, popular history ought to be. . . . The most comprehensive single-volume history of the popes in print.”—John Adamson, Sunday Telegraph\...
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This engrossing book encompasses the extraordinary history of the papacy, from its beginnings nearly two thousand years ago to the present day. In this new edition, the final chapter has been expanded to cover the last years of John Paul II and the election of Benedict XVI.Praise for the earlier editions:“[A] minor masterpiece which is everything good, popular history ought to be. . . . The most comprehensive single-volume history of the popes in print.”—John Adamson, Sunday Telegraph“Duffy enlivens the long march through church history with anecdotes that bring the different pontiffs to life. . . . Saints and Sinners is a remarkable achievement.”—Piers Paul Read, The Times (London) “Will fascinate anyone wishing to better understand the history of the Catholic Church and the forces that have shaped the role of the papacy.”—Gloria J. Tysl, Christian Century Catholic News Service The history of the papacy is a fascinating study whether you consider it theologically, politically, or economically. Duffy offers a masterful blending of all three in this beautiful book.
I'Upon this rock' c. AD 33-461IFrom Jerusalem to Rome1IIThe bishops of Rome13IIIThe age of Constantine23IVThe birth of papal Rome372Between two empires 461-1000IUnder gothic kings48IIThe age of Gregory the Great59IIIThe Byzantine captivity of the papacy72IVEmpires of the West863Set above nations 1000-1447IThe era of papal reform110IIFrom papal reform to papal monarchy128IIIThe pinnacle of papal power138IVExile and schism1514Protest and division 1477-1774IThe Renaissance popes177IIThe crisis of Christendom196IIIThe counter-reformation208IVThe popes in an age of absolutism2305The pope and the people 1774-1903IThe church and the revolution247IIFrom recovery to reaction260IIIPio Nono : the triumph of ultramontanism286IVUltramontanism with a liberal face : the reign of Leo XIII3056The oracles of God 1903-2005IThe age of intransigence319IIThe attack on modernism325IIIThe age of the dictators332IVThe age of Vatican II354VPapa Wojtyla369VIThe way we live now386AppChronological list of popes and antipopesAppHow a new pope is made
\ BookwatchAn excellent college-level reference.\ \ \ \ \ Catholic News ServiceThe history of the papacy is a fascinating study whether you consider it theologically, politically, or economically. Duffy offers a masterful blending of all three in this beautiful book. \ — Catholic News Service\ \ \ Donald L. GelpiDuffy's sprightly and sometimes anecdotal style moves the reader effortlessly through the centuries, highlighting popes whose tenure changed the shape of the papacy. \ — America\ \ \ \ \ EconomistWill intrigue the faithful as well as the skeptical.\ \ \ \ \ Gary Wills[A] fine survey of the papacy. \ — New York Review of Books\ \ \ \ \ Gloria J. TyslA wonderful history of the popes ... a book that will fascinate anyone wishing to better understand the history of the Catholic Church and the forces that have shaped the role of the papacy. \ — Christian Century\ \ \ \ \ Henry ChadwickA distinguished text ... offering plenty of historical facts and sobering, valuable judgments. \ — New York Times Book Review\ \ \ \ \ Jerry BartramLively and informative read... Duffy peoples his story with real men, and casts interesting, sometimes poignant light on their lives. \ — Globe and Mail\ \ \ \ \ John Adamson[A] minor masterpiece which is everything good, popular history ought to be... . The most comprehensive single-volume history of the popes in print. \ — Sunday Telegraph\ \ \ \ \ John MorrillA wonderful study of heroism and flawed humanity. \ — Catholic Herald\ \ \ \ \ Mario BasiniThe story has all the ingredients of a best-seller. Love, lust, nail-biting struggles for power, a passion for goodness, sometimes an almost equal appetite for evil. \ — The Western Mail\ \ \ \ \ Patrick CollinsA grand and critical overview of an institution which Duffy believes has been ‘on balance a force for human freedom and largeness of spirit'. \ — Times Literary Supplement\ \ \ \ \ Peter StanfordAn outstanding work. \ — The Daily Telegraph\ \ \ \ \ Piers Paul ReadDuffy enlivens the long march through church history with anecdotes that bring the different pontiffs to life... . Saints and Sinners is a remarkable achievement. \ — The Times (London)\ \ \ \ \ R.A. MarkusThis is as fair-minded, as full and as interesting a survey as a one-volume history of the papacy can be expected to be. Clear, elegant and lively, the book is very readable. It is a stunning achievement, to be grateful for. \ — The Tablet\ \ \ \ \ Robert Louis WilkenThis new book offers the most comprehensive one-volume history in English of the popes from ancient times to the pontificate of John Paul II... [Duffy's] account is judicious and fair throughout. \ — Commonweal\ \ \ \ \ Thomas ShelleyThe narrative is full of charming vignettes... deserves to be sipped like good wine. \ — Church\ \ \ \ \ Henry ChadwickIncludes both good illustrations and a distinguished text...offering plenty of historical facts and sobering, valuable judgments.\ — The New York Times Book Review\ \ \ \ \ John AdamsonA minor masterpiece which is everything good, popular history ought to be...the most comprehensive single-volume history of the popes in print. \ — Sunday Telegraph\ \ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsA sumptuous feast of popes and kings, nimbly prepared by historian Duffy, a fellow at Magdelen College, Cambridge.\ This book is intended as a tie-in to a six-part British television series on the history of the papacy, scheduled to appear on the History Channel in the spring of 1998. For a companion volume, this history is surprisingly dense and sophisticated. More important, although Duffy certainly remarks on the papacy's more salacious past (like Boniface's comment that sex with boys or women was no more sinful than "rubbing one hand against another"), he never stoops to a tabloidesque fascination with the all-too-human foibles of the pontiffs. Rather, Duffy uses the evolving institution of the papacy from Peter to John Paul II as a lens through which to view two millennia of Western civilization. He profiles the missionary activity of the early Church, the consolidation of power with the bishop of Rome (who became the acknowledged pope), the emergence of monastic reform, the schism with Constantinople, the "Babylonian Captivity" of the papacy in 14th-century Avignon, Luther's protest, and the Catholic Reformation that met his challenge. If the last third of the book seems to lose some of its energy, it might be because, as Duffy subtly observes, the modern papacy is a quite different institution than its predecessor. Shorn of political power and the most obvious signs of avarice, it now commands a holy respect. Duffy claims that the current pope asserts "a spiritual status . . . greater than at any time since the high Middle Ages."\ With its 150 well-chosen illustrations, 100 of them in color, this is a coffee-table book that transcends its genre.\ \ \
