Rating: 
Summary: an interesting book, reab about a pope a day
Review: Apparently the author is a dissenter in the catholic church, unbeknowngst to me. I picked this up in Italy to read about all the popes(most of which I knew nothing about). This book, with its short synopsis on each pope is a great read. It also illustrates the marvelous variety of personalities that inherited the throne of peter. From the smiling Pope John Paul I to the warrior pope Julious II. It details the roman persecutions and shows how few popes were killed in the period, details the schisms and also the sexual adventures of the popes. Shows how many popes were murdered, and how many had short periods in power. It also details the papal election process and its developments. A must read for those interested in a history of the Popes without the usual tenderness associated with some publications and the usual wordiness of academics.
Rating:
Summary: an interesting book, reab about a pope a day
Review: Apparently the author is a dissenter in the catholic church, unbeknowngst to me. I picked this up in Italy to read about all the popes(most of which I knew nothing about). This book, with its short synopsis on each pope is a great read. It also illustrates the marvelous variety of personalities that inherited the throne of peter. From the smiling Pope John Paul I to the warrior pope Julious II. It details the roman persecutions and shows how few popes were killed in the period, details the schisms and also the sexual adventures of the popes. Shows how many popes were murdered, and how many had short periods in power. It also details the papal election process and its developments. A must read for those interested in a history of the Popes without the usual tenderness associated with some publications and the usual wordiness of academics.
Rating: 
Summary: An embarassment from someone who knows better. . .
Review: Fr. Richard McBrien is a well-known cleric who has made a career of public dissent in the Church. If this is the position he wishes to take, that is his business. However, when he purports to write a history of the papacy, is it too much to expect precisely that?Instead, McBrien has provided several hundred pages of typical, tiresome "Catholic" dissent badly disguised as a history book. As a non-Roman Catholic clergyman, historian and theologian, I find that very unfortunate. For a far better book from an academic perspective, I would suggest Dr. Owen Chadwick's Oxford Dictionary of the Popes as a much more valuable reference tool.
Rating: 
Summary: Remarkable study of the Papacy!
Review: I found it to be a remarkable book, giving me a greater insight as to the process that led to our current Pope. Despite the views of many, I found the frank admission that not all of the 260 Popes were spiritually enlightened to grant his work a greater veracity, coming from a follower of Catholicism. I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in such studies.
Rating:
Summary: The Good Outweighs the Bad
Review: I found this book inspiring. Despite the many popes who were more interested in power, lust, greed, or enriching their families at the expense of the church, a picture emerges of a church that is dedicated to carrying out Jesus' message. The portrayals of early popes who tried to steer the church away from extreme theological or disciplinary positions were particularly interesting as very little about the early church appears in popular literature. I was a bit annoyed at the repetitiveness of the book; it felt like it couldn't decide whether it was a reference book or a history text. And I would have liked to see more information on the antipopes, some of whom had larger bodies of faithful than the popes now recognized as legitimate.
Rating: 
Summary: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Review: If a mere beautiful cover could determine the content of a book, this book would receive 5 stars. But don't be deceived. Behind the beautiful cover illustration is a frustrated liberal modernist, Fr. Richard McBrien, who likes to attack basically anything truly Catholic before Vatican II. His "accounts" of the Popes' lives reflect his hatred for Catholic orthodoxy so much that anyone can see the bias in his work. This book is supposed to be objective and based on facts; we do not need to hear that McBrien disagrees with Paul VI's encyclical "Humanae Vitae" or that he hates St. Pius X (the condemner of modernism, go figure). A historical work should boast objectivity; this one just reflects McBrien's dissatisfaction with Catholic doctrine. If you want a good account of the history of the Popes, get "Chronicle of the Popes."
Rating:
Summary: Mucius
Review: It is difficult to figure out why McBrien wrote this book. On the whole, it is amazingly similar to the classic "Oxford Dictionary of the Popes" by J.N.D. Kelly. I wonder how much real research went into this book? What is good here can be found in a more reliable and less polemicized form in Kelly's book ... unless you like to read scurrilous gossip about the Church from one of its most widely published dissenters.
Rating:
Summary: Mucius
Review: It is difficult to figure out why McBrien wrote this book. On the whole, it is amazingly similar to the classic "Oxford Dictionary of the Popes" by J.N.D. Kelly. I wonder how much real research went into this book? What is good here can be found in a more reliable and less polemicized form in Kelly's book ... unless you like to read scurrilous gossip about the Church from one of its most widely published dissenters.
Rating:
Summary: Balance is Rare
Review: It is so difficult to find easy to use resources on the popes that has a balanced presentation as its objective, I think this book will become a favorite for those who care about this history. Richard McBrien is as good as they get.
Rating:
Summary: An honest rerview of the Good and Bad of the papacy
Review: Let's be honest, if you hate the Papacy and you see nothing good in it you will not like this book because it points to much good on the side of Papacy. If you are a die-hard Catholic who beleives in Papal infallability and all the catholic dogmas, you won't like this book because it also points out bad things that came out of the papacy. If you are neutral on Catholicism, and want't a neutral view of the Lives of Popes throughout history, then this is an excellent book. The author is not affraid to talk about the good and the bad of each individual Pope. It is clearly A very honest overview! The previous reviews I have read were either anti-Catholic or Pro-Catholic. it is nice every now and then to see something objective.
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