His Holiness: John Paul II and the Hidden History of Our Time

Rating:
Summary: Uneven coverage of a great man
Review: I started off really liking this book. The coverage of the Pope's early life up until his ascencion to the throne was very interesting and pretty well-done. Once he got to the papacy, there were two significant problems. First of all, there were whole sections that dealt with the CIA and other government agencies and didn't talk about the Pope very much. More troubling was what the authors did to the story after the fall of communism. It was like a totally different book. The immediately began using words like "angry" and "snapped" and "reactionary" and "militant" to describe the Pope's stand on moral issues. After championing him as a her in the fight against communism, they made him seem like a grumpy old man who can't keep up with the times when he dared to take a firm stance against abortion or the ordination of women priests. I threw the book away when I was done. Be smarter than me and don't buy it in the beginning!

Rating:
Summary: Uneven coverage of a great man
Review: I started off really liking this book. The coverage of the Pope's early life up until his ascencion to the throne was very interesting and pretty well-done. Once he got to the papacy, there were two significant problems. First of all, there were whole sections that dealt with the CIA and other government agencies and didn't talk about the Pope very much. More troubling was what the authors did to the story after the fall of communism. It was like a totally different book. The immediately began using words like "angry" and "snapped" and "reactionary" and "militant" to describe the Pope's stand on moral issues. After championing him as a her in the fight against communism, they made him seem like a grumpy old man who can't keep up with the times when he dared to take a firm stance against abortion or the ordination of women priests. I threw the book away when I was done. Be smarter than me and don't buy it in the beginning!

Rating:
Summary: It is a great research and jornalistic work
Review: This is one of the best biographies I have ever read and it is the an incredible work done by authors. They describe in detail all relevant facts about the Pope and, based on these facts, the authors explain his ideas and his influence under the modern church. In this book, the reader will be able to understand many of John Paul II's thoughts and actions that were performed and will be performed by him during his period as a Pope. A book worth reading in order to understand the real man behind the Sant Peters Throne.