With a small quote from Alexander himself as the title I clearly state my approval! His works are unlike anything I have read in early English Literature. His very original attitude and way of speaking his mind makes him who he is. A must read for any reader who wants to be entertained!

The legend of Pope Joan is worth a good book. Was there a female pope and, if so, how could she have deceived all the people at least some of the time? If she is a legend, why did the legend start and why did it persist for so long? Stanford's not the man for this. He's another self-absorbed 20th century reporter type who keeps inserting himself into the story and talking down to the reader. Sometimes I thought I was reading his resume's account of his journalistic & research abilities. One of these abilities is not reflection, which is notably absent in this book. What is present is a wishful pushing of his arguments, which hurts his case more than helps it. As the Kirkus reviewer notes, he turns suppositions into facts. Disappointing book.

The Legend of Pope Joan (In Search of the Truth) by Peter Stanford was a little difficult to enjoy at first as I was expecting more of a standard history book. Instead this book is actually more about the journalist's, the author, own personal search for the truth behind the stories of Pope Joan, rather than Pope Joan herself, although she is there in plenty. This is more than just an ego project though (although it certainly has moments of that) and it is an interesting and different way of making this book stand out from the various other Pope Joan books in existence and actually drawing the reader closer and personally into the legend. The author is certainly thorough in his research, extending it often beyond the middle ages, such as his riveting interview with a woman in Czechoslovakia who was ordained as a priest as a way of getting around Communist restrictions against the Catholic Church. There will be more than enough history to please the history buffs but the story, mainly due to the style of the author, will be a joy for anyone to indulge a couple of hours soaking into this unusual legend of this remarkable, possibly real, woman. It is history as journalism by way of a detective story.

I became aware of the legend of Pope Joan a number of years ago upon reading Donna Woolfolk Cross's novel Pope Joan. Since then, I've come across mentions of the legend in a number of places, including some interesting papal histories. However, I had never looked into the story seriously so I decided to read a few books. One of the first I came across was this one by Peter Stanford.

I was reasonably pleased with this book. Stanford appears to have done some serious research into the historical sources of the story of the female pope. In addition, he has relates a number of interviews with important historians both inside and outside the Vatican. Most importantly, the book is quite easy to read as he tells it more as the story of his personal search for the truth as opposed to a dry history.

This, however, is also the source of the book's main weakness. Stanford is clearly prejudiced before he even begins his search. Clearly, he believes there was such a person as Pope Joan and he is merely looking for pieces of information to back up his position. Granted, he is honest enough to admit that there is absolutely no way a definitive answer to this question will ever come but this cannot cover his strong belief that there was such a person.

I, myself, believe it is highly likely a person like Joan lived at some time in papal history but Stanford's faith is distracting. Still, he is quite thorough and makes a number of good points both pro and con. For someone interested in the subject, this book is a worthwhile read.

This book is concerned with how men see themselves, and how media plays into making us more insecure and unhappy with our bodies. It's an interesting dilemma, if only because it is something society has done to women for centuries. It is a light read, and yes there are quizes...but be warned, unless you know your body fat percentage and are very adept with a calculator you may never figure out your results. And I did figure out my results, and little was given to explain exactly what it all means. But it is a fascinating topic! And the authors keep the tone breezey and fun. They even talk about how GI JOE has gotten more buff over the years (sort of like how Barbie has dimensions that are unreal). There is a section that also tells you how to recognize if a man is on steroids. Great stuff to combat those images thrust at us daily by muscle magazines and fashion editors! You could file this under MEN'S STUDIES, but it's an important topic that needs to be brought to light. It seems as if we are approaching equality for men and women, but rather than stopping making women objects...we have just extended the same discourtesy to men.

The authors of this book have been doing a lot of research over the years. The chapter notes contain at least 50 research papers that they have published in various scientific journals. Some of their findings are pretty stunning. For example, in a study of college men, they found that the average man would like to have a body with about 30 pounds more muscle than he actually has, and that he believes that women actually WANT him to look that muscular! In fact, when the authors studied actual women, they found that women preferred a male body that looks like an ordinary college student with no extra muscle. The authors also quote a street corner survey in which women were asked to rate the attractiveness of big bodybuilders on a scale where 0 was most attractive and 5 was the most repulsive. More than 90% of the women rated the bodybuilders as a 5.

As a woman, I'm not surprised to learn this, but I think it's a revelation to see some of these studies about how men feel about their bodies. It makes it more understandable to me why men do dumb things like taking steroids. I'd particularly recommend this book to other women.

Anybody who works out should definitly take the time to read this book. It basically makes a claim that most people are not happy with their physique. Skinny people want to gain weight, fat people want to lose weight, and muscleheads want to gain even more muscle. Nobody is content.

To illustrate their point, the authors provide several quizzes, using both questions and illustrations as guides. The book also mentions when the Adonis complex begins, what triggers it, and how society's ideals dictate who should/should not be happy with their physique.

I encourage fellow bodybuilders everywhere to read this book. It is describing most of us, and it is important to know that we are not alone.

My only criticism has to do with the topic of sterioids. The authors seem to think that it is impossible to attain a certain level of physique without the use of steroids, when this is not the case. The level that they claim is unattainable without the use of steroids is far, far too low. Some people do take the shortcut, but lots of us use hard work and determination, something that the authors don't believe in.

Passing the Keys is a wonderful and timely book about the modern conclaves, the Papal elections from 1878 to the present. Most of the book describes the politicking from a Pope's death until the opening of the next conclave, and between ballots as the cardinal electors seek a suitable candidate. But Burkle-Young also tells us how Popes use their power to select cardinals and rewrite the rules governing Papal elections to bring the Church around to their way of thinking about theology and organization. Sometimes with unintended and surprising results. Of course, he describes the factions and main theological issues in today's Church and includes biographies of the current papabili. And he speculates about what name the next pope with choose. We'll see how well he guesses.

It's a big, scholarly book and historically valuable but it reads as easily as a good novel. I never thought I could be held in suspense reading about the election of JPII. Hey, we already know who won. But I was. Passing the Keys is unlike any other Papal history out there. I'm glad I read it before the next election.

This book can be divided into two parts, of which the first, dealing with papal conclaves, and the cardinals involved, for the period 1878 to 1978, can be recommended unreservedly for anyone with an interest in modern papal history. It is neither too academic nor too populist for the average reader.

In the second part, which looks ahead to the next conclave, Dr Burkle-Young shows himself to be a better chronicler of the past than prophet of the future. He clearly underestimates John Paul 11's resilience, as he was convinced that the conclave would take place in 1999, which leads him to seemingly overlook the possibility of a further consistory taking place before the conclave. The elevation of 44 new cardinals in 2001 has completely altered the mathematics of the next conclave, making the author's forecast that Cardinal Martini of Milan will be the next pope much less likely.

Burkle-Young is no fan of the present pope, considering him the most conservative pope since Pius X, who died in 1914, and he uses "conservative" as a pejorative term.

An alpha for the first part, but no more than a beta plus for the second, so four stars overall.

Passing The Keys: Modern Cardinals, Conclaves, And The Election Of The Next Pope focuses upon a critically important piece of Catholic history - that of papal elections. Featuring extensive descriptions and study of the theological positions of Popes through John Paul II, Passing The Keys is one of the most complete and in-depth studies of this sensitive topic available to lay readers. Historian and author Francis Burkle-Young also takes a hard look upon debates that are directly affecting the priesthood and the Vatican today, over issues such as contraception and women as priests or bishops. Strongly commended reading for anyone interested in taking a good, hard look at the Roman Catholic electoral process that reveals who will be Pope, the man who speaks for God according to faithful Catholics the world over.

This book is a real sad story, it keeps you reading almost all the time, is not exactly a thriller but is very sad, reading this book you will see how live the people in the Vatican and how they feel.
The story of Isabel and Luca is sad since the beginning of the book, also is the story of Piers Hallet and is only written once, but the childhood of Stephanie was awful.
I won't comment anything of how Luca and Isabel met because I will tell you part of the book, but it was terrible, if you are not in the mood of "crying" while you read, don't read this book.

Once again, Morris West brings to life a clergyman with a troublesome past. Cardinal Luca, burdened with old memories of being molested by Argentine soldiers, comes to town - THE town, La Citta. So does the love of his life, an ambassador's wife. West weaves an elegant web of love and politics (churchly and worldly). As the Pope dies, Luca has to cope with his love's fatal illness, the election of the successor of St Peter - and his own past. Of course, the election turns out more exciting than anyone could guess, with an unexpected turn at the end. As usual, West gives us a thoroughly researched background - this time on the pulling of strings behind the scenes: Maybe this is the way popes are elected; we can not really know. West has a flair for telling about live people in odd circumstances. And he does not let us down.

The emotions and struggles of West's characters are real, heartfelt, and dated to the beginning of mankind. In this way, I always relate to his stories, tantalized and drawn in by his graceful style and--often un-American--sense of dignity. On the other hand, the dialogue tends to flow from pre-ordained scripts, rather than from the down-on-the-street world most of us live in. I usually overlook this stilted quality because of the seductive narrative. His words nearly hum a tune of honor and the quest for truth in a world gone mad. West is one of my favorite authors and I enjoyed this story of Luca and Isabel and the political jockeying within the Vatican, but I wouldn't rate it among his best. I hope he has one more truly original premise to vent in his latter days. Meanwhile, try his nonfiction offering "A View from the Ridge." This man truly attempts to reconcile faith with the darkness of the world around us--and for that he sits high on my list of influential authors.

When I started reading the book, I thought I was going to find a profound story with strong characters..... But, after the first chapter, I was just reading superficial attacks to the catholic church, always extreme and without real context. Every comment about the catholic church had no strong support by the characters, which I also expected to be stronger, so at the end of the book -as I always expect- the reader could at least identify with some of their feelings and thoughts. At the end, the so expected revelations, the reason d'etre of the story, are just -again- superficial "facts"... I actually laughed at the end, because eventhough I expected much more or this book, it wasn't bad, until reading the end. I have the feeling that the author just wanted to bring all "virtues" of Judaism and attack Catholisism.

This novel has a small amount of fact, a moderate amount of intrigue and a gigantic amount of misinformation and bigotry. The fact, which is so timely now, is the horror of child abuse by priests in the Catholic Church and the unexcusable behavior of covering up this fact by the hierarchy of the Church. This book, however, only continues the sad disharmony that exist between people of differing religious beliefs. Mr. Marcus uses his novel as a forum for anti-Catholicism much in the same way he proclaims the Catholic church uses the Sacred Scriptures for anti-Semitism. It is also obvious that Mr. Marcus did little research into the doctrine of the Catholic Church or he would not have referred to Jesus' birth as the "immaculate conception." The term "Immaculate Conception" in Catholic doctrine refers to the belief that Mary was conceived free of original sin. (see Part 1, Chapter 2, Paragraph 2, Subparagraph II of the Catechism of the Catholic Church). Mr. Marcus' premise of the need to question what our religious beliefs mean is great, but would have been credible if he had left his own bigotry behind.

This insightful novel not only shows an understanding of world history , but allows readers to travel deep into the complex (and hypocritical) nature of religion and politics. I felt that I truly got to know Pope Pius Innocent as a troubled soul, and to feel his agony as he faced the most critical decision of his life. Given current events in both Rome and Israel, and that we may soon see the election of a new Pope, this book is a classic example of historical fiction at its best and most honest. Although it may be difficult to follow in some chapters as Marcus challenges the reader with his "novel within a novel," it succeeds in showing the author's keen understanding of human nature - as well as history. It rates closely to "Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Zev" (also by Jerry Marcus) in its portrayal of the main character.

It is apparent from the beginning that Edmond Pope felt he was something special from being retired from the Navy and founding a company which specialized in projects related to propulsion through water. It appeared that he felt with all the Navy top secret clearances, they alone should be sufficient for obtaining information from those in Russia willing to sell. He knew about the danger of obtaining the information and how his room was bugged and, this was a risky international business he was in. It seems through his narration, nothing came as a surprise to him when whe was held over in the beginning. His ordeal in the prison showed that he had undergone suffient Navy training not to break him completely. By all accounts his wife was very instrumental in getting public attention to his captivity. The most obvious thing that came out of this writing, was that no where could he convince anyone until he was captive for nearly three months for help either from Penn State where he was wroking for or from our government representatives. It was expecially evident, our most highly impressive Pennsylvania State Senators Arlen Spector or Rick Santorum, who representated him gave no reponse to his wife when she requested their help. Only after he was well on his way of getting a pardon from the Russian president, did Spector or Santorum get on the bandwagon behind Pope. I guess it shows that they only play when things are in a positive mode. The book was very interesting and written well and held your attention throughout.

A very well-written, no-holds-barred account of Ed Pope's ordeal in today's Russia. This book makes it clear that the Russian government still continues many of the more odious Soviet practices, especially when it comes to their paranoia about foreigners and the treatment of accused defendants. Ed Pope and Tom Schactman give numerous insights into today's Russian system of "justice," making it clear that having no hard evidence against a defendant (whether a foreigner or a Russian) is not a problem for the prosecution, when it is backed by the FSB and the courts. This should make Western businessmen who have any dealings with Russian military or industrial institutions have second thoughts. As a former naval intelligence officer myself, I would rate this as a five-star book that should be read by all intelligence professionals, as well as all those who would do business in today's Russia. Terry Wilton, LCDR USN (Ret.).

I met this man in person. The ordeals he went thru, its just insane. But he made the best of his time in purgatory.
This is another example of burachcy.
For those of you who dont have a clue how the world really is
please read this book.

POPE JOHN XXIII is not a long book but the author does try to cover a lot of territory as he traces the history of the church and especially the papacy from its beginnings to the present day.He also manages to give us a short biography of Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, the 258th successor to the apostle Peter.

Two passages in the book stand out as beacons of optimism. The first is a description of John walking up the central aisle of Saint Peter's at the start of Vatican II while 2500 bishops, patriarchs and abbots sing and pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The second passage contains Cahill's prediction that the Holy Spirit will descend again on the church as it surely did at Vatican II and also 2000 years ago at Pentecost in Jerusalem.

For those who love the Roman Catholic Church, another Pentecost will be most welcome.

Whether you are a Catholic or a non-Catholic will doubtless have massive implications for how you approach this book. I am a non-Catholic with very little grounding in the history or structure of the Western Church or of the Papacy. For myself, I would not have fully understood why Angelo Roncalli's Papacy was considered successful without the not so brief but engaging Papal history that takes up 72 of the book's 241 pages. It is a dizzying survey of Papal history, and obviously not definitive, but it gives Pope John XXIII a context within which to appreciate him. Some Catholics may take such a history for granted, and want to get to the meat of Roncalli's story. But, the author has to take into consideration those without a Catholic background so they can understand why he was not only a good Pope, but a good person.

Cahill does make much out of what Pope John XXIII had to contend with in the form of conservative Cardinals and Vatican administrators. There are times Cahill seems too harsh towards these people, and possibly he overplays it to demonstrate Roncalli's legacy. However, the Catholic church does have the reputation as one of the most conservative institutions in the world (there are many examples as to why, the case of forgiving Galileo about 300 years after the fact is only one), so perhaps Cahill's depiction is accurate. It is ultimately hard to know for a Vatican outsider, but Cahill's book, skewed or not, is a great starting place for non-Catholics on the subject of the Papacy.

This is a wonderful biography of the pudgy man born to a poor peasant family who became, in his old age, the much-beloved (at least by the people) Pope John XXIII. I was a ten-year old Protestant boy when Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli ascended to the throne of St. Peter. I remember reading about him and his Vatican Council over the next five years and hearing my Catholic friends talk favorably about the new pope. Then in 1963 the pope died and a few months later the young American president was assassinated and the whole world changed (or at least it seemed--and seems--to me).

Thomas Cahill's addition to the Penguin Lives series of brief biographies is the best so far. Cahill's prose is easily read; his history flows smoothly. The book open with an account of the church's history and its long line of mostly undistinguished popes. Then Cahill focuses on the long life of Roncalli: his service in the Italian army during World War I; his rise to some significance in the church in Italy; then his unexpected posting to mostly Orthodox Bulgaria; and then to the plum job in sophisticated and free-thinking Paris. Somehow this widely varied experience combined with his native empathy for people and love of the soil to deliver a remarkably liberal and unfettered man to the head of the Roman Catholic church for a brief, but monumental, five years.

Cahill concludes with a negative, almost searing, overview of Pope John's successors including a pretty nasty picture of Pope John Paul II who he thinks represents a weird, Polish kind of Catholcism. I can't comment on the fairness of that, but am encouraged that Cahill feels that the waters representing John's humanism and warmth run near the surface and will emerge again. Frankly, I hope so.

The book is fairly entertaining, written in Father Greeley's plodding but usually fun style. For anyone who has read his works of non-fiction, his views on the hierarchy and the Vatican are repeated here. He is apparently confident that a candidate he can support will win at the next conclave.

In "White Smoke," Father Greeley repeats many of the errors of his other writings. He is a charming person and I think he truly believes that his prescription is the antidote for all that ails the Catholic Church.

He is, of course, wrong. Father Greeley's mistake, as always, is to assume the absence of any transcendent moral truth that goes beyond sociological studies and the whims of American Catholics, seduced by the material pleasures of the late 20th century. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church is no more out of step with the people than Jesus Christ was out of step with the people who put Him to death or the American Abolitionists were out of step with those who believed slavery to be moral.

The teaching authority of the Church is not to be sniffed at by those who desire acceptance at Harvard cocktail parties. It is a real thing. Vatican II, contrary to popular belief, did not displace the pope and the magisterium as the teachers of the Catholic Church and replace them with the opinions of American Catholics.

White Smoke is an amusing story- how accurately it describes the conclave no one can know but those who have actually participated. Hopefully, Greeley's predictions of a morally lazy pope will not come to pass. John Paul II has been of the great leaders of our time and one of the greatest Catholic teachers in the whole history of the Church. To replace him with someone who would surrender church teaching to the moral philosophy of MTV would be a great mistake. In this era where markets and majorities rule, the Church remains a bulwark against falsity and moral weakness. I hope and pray that White Smoke will forever be a work of fiction, never to come to pass.

This is the first Greeley novel I have read, though they have all come recommended. As a storyteller he is definitely up there with the best romance writers--in fact I would argue he is better than most sappy romance authors. However, it did take me a good 40-50 pages to understand his jumping from one first-person narrative to the next depending on which character was telling the story, and why he was writing this way. Not a writing style that is widely used.

This book is also a suspenseful mystery, though not as well written in this regard as the romantic. What Greeley does best is give you a good lesson in history, politics and present day sociological makeup up the present-day Catholic Church. Warts and all.

Many conservitive Catholics would probably find this book offensive, though most persons and groups are fictitious (except for Opus Dei, the conservitive Catholic organization). I believe most active Catholics feel that any institution needs to be scrutinized and critiqued. All organizations are run by humans and all humans are fallible. Including the Pope and especially his bishops and cardinals.

Bottom line for this book--it's a decent read, though readers unfamiliar with Greeley's style should be cautious, because it can seem like it is jumping around. It is not the best of mysteries, nor romances, nor even lessons on the Catholic religion--but it could be worse. It is only a point-of-view and not the only one in this universal church. It is a view of what "could" happen and may be close to what might happen during the next conclave. It's entertaining enough as a relaxing summer read, or a quick read on a long plane trip. Though don't ask it to be anything else.

Politics, Vatican style, have much in common with Watergate when Bishop "Blackie" Ryan and Sean Cardinal Cronin travel to Rome to participate in the election of a new Pope. Intrigue, romance, and a look at the behind the scenes activities of the Roman Catholic hierarchy make this a fast paced read, one that you will have difficulty putting aside. This is a must read for all Andrew Greeley fans.

The opening pages which take the reader through the centuries of the ice age were indicative of what was to follow. The prose was compelling but very descriptive and I felt this was at the expense of narrative drive. I did not emerge from the book with a much clearer idea about what drove Niklot/Salvestro, or indeed many of the other characters in the book. While true life is often confusing, I would have welcomed a bit more "glue" holding the many different episodes together. Full marks to an earlier reviewer's dissection of the plot, much of which I missed---I don't think I'm particularly slow, and I like to be kept guessing, but not to the point where I forget which country I'm in. I skimmed the last hundred or so pages, feeling that I'd not taken adequate notes as I read it. I began to flounder in a welter of details quite early on in the process, so I'm not the best qualified judge, but the ending seemed anticlimactic. Plenty of brilliant scenes throughout the book, which was populated with a gallery of fantastic grotesques and others, and many of the scenes would have made great short stories. But ultimately the lack of narrative and construction made the book unwieldy. A pity, since the characters and their time were anyway so fascinating, and not covered so frequently these days.

Lawrence Norfolk is one of the only modern masters of language and storytelling we have, and I believe that we should not only appreciate it but praise it as well. As with his first novel "Lepmpriere's Dictionary", which was a story of strange twisting plots and a great reservoir for historical mystery, "The Pope's Rhinoceros" is only the best book to follow. It of course has its strange tangents that we, as an audience, are learning to be the style of the great author, and minor plots that boggle the mind even after the last page has been read. There are things too reminiscent of Lempriere's such as the character of Septimus whom we are so intrigued by but so uninformed about, we get a new view on this angelic character and only find that we are closer to understanding without even a new hint as to what it means. His, Norfolk's, ability to write so detailed on certain things as the way of life of a fish in the sea, a colony of rats, or the history of a river or strange occurrences on remote islands, is impeccable. To achieve through writing alone, an enchantment that will devour your reader, without even the elements of a story is not an easy task and yet Norfolk produces it in the blink of an eye, and makes it appear all too natural. I think anyone would terribly enjoy this book, and those who would not are just those who become aggrivated when a piece of work forces them to think a little. The only negative of the book that I can even fathom is that he has so few books under his belt that when you finish Lempriere's and the Pope's who will be left waiting impatienly, clawing at and climbing the walls, for his next work to be published.

Lawrence Norfolk's vivid imagination goes amok in this, his second novel. The characters are fantastic and utterly believable. His knowledge of early 16th century Europe and the religious and political strife therein make for a lovely canvas upon which this hefty tome is created.