Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes

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.

a good read, but a long way yet to go

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

I have returned to this book several times since purchasing it. Duffy writes eloquently and with a keen eye for the telling detail. I particularly like how he does not shy away from arcane matters of doctrine, patiently explaining the importance and relevance of the various bulls and encyclicals which have impacted on the history of the church and the behaviour of the faithful . The story is also, of course, peopled with an extraordinary array of characters... saints and sinners indeed in ... who have filled the shoes of the fisherman through two millenia. Highly recommended.

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 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.

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.

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...