The popes : histories and secrets /

"Habemus Papam"--We have a Pope. With these words the Vatican announces the beginning of each new papacy, yet this simple statement is also the herald's cry for a flood of questions about the 264 men who have occupied the chair of St. Peter. According to information provided on its cover, the book has filled quite a demand, selling over 100,000 copies in Italy alone. Now available in an easy-to-read English translation, the book is simple in format: a brief introduction is followed by short entries for each of the popes. Entries are well written and generally respectful, but critical of various papal policies. The book has three significant limitations. It offers scant information about the church in the US and how popes have related to American Catholicism since the 1800s, it has no notes or references for individual entries, and very few entries in the bibliography were published after 1980. Although this book has merit, libraries should thoroughly search the available reference literature before ordering it. ^BSumming Up: Optional. General readers and lower-division undergraduates. T. Walch Hoover Presidential Library