The Popes
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  • Published: 1 June 2012
  • ISBN: 9780099565871
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 528
  • RRP: $29.99

The Popes

A History

Formats & editions
Paperback
1 Jun 2012
EBook
31 May 2011
Audiobook
10 Mar 2011
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An irresistible account of some of history's most illustrious - and iniquitous - figures, from one of our best-loved historians.

John Julius Norwich examines the oldest continuing institution in the world, tracing the papal line down the centuries from St Peter (traditionally – but by no means historically – the first Pope) to the present. Of the 280-odd holders of the supreme office, some have unquestionably been saints; others have wallowed in unspeakable iniquity. One was said to have been a woman, her sex being revealed only when she improvidently gave birth to a baby during a papal procession. Almost as shocking was Formosus whose murdered corpse was exhumed, clothed in pontifical vestments, propped up on a throne and subjected to trial; or John XII, of whom Gibbon wrote ‘his rapes of virgins and widows had deterred the female pilgrims from visiting the shrine of St Peter’. John Julius Norwich brings the story up to date with lively investigations into the anti-semitism of the contemptible Pius XII, the possible murder of John Paul I and the phenomenon of the Polish John Paul II. From the glories of Byzantium to the decay of Rome, from the Albigensian Heresy to controversy within the Church today, The Popes is superbly written, witty and revealing.
  • Published: 1 June 2012
  • ISBN: 9780099565871
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 528
  • RRP: $29.99
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About the author

Viscount John Julius Norwich

John Julius Norwich is the author of histories of Norman Sicily, the Republic of Venice, the Byzantine Empire, the Mediterranean and, most recently, The Popes. He is also the editor of Darling Monster, a collection of letters his mother Lady Diana Cooper wrote to him. He has written on architecture, music and the history plays of Shakespeare, and has presented some thirty historical documentaries on BBC Television.

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Praise for The Popes

The stories are glorious...stuffed with monsters, absurdities, wonders and politics, just as you would expect from any human institution... The Popes is sharp, fun and wonderfully energetic through its many, many pages

Scotsman

A highly readable book

Sunday Times

One of the most bizarre and enjoyable history books I've ever read

Daily Express

Norwich certainly has an eye for the tiny detail that illuminates a whole character

Mail on Sunday

To keep such a light touch, without sacrificing academic seriousness, is a distinct achievement

Independent

Entertaining

Sunday Telegraph

Stylish and enjoyably opinionated

Observer