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商品の説明
内容説明
Critical praise for ABSOLUTE MONARCHS
“Absolute Monarchs sprawls across Europe and the Levant, over two millenniums, and with an impossibly immense cast: 265 popes, feral hordes of Vandals, Huns and Visigoths, expansionist emperors, Byzantine intriguers, Borgias and Medicis, heretic zealots, conspiring clerics, bestial inquisitors and more. Norwich manages to organize this crowded stage and produce a rollicking narrative. He keeps things moving at nearly beach-read pace.”
—Bill Keller, New York Times Book Review, Cover review
“Renowned historian Norwich offers a rollicking account of the men who held the papal office, their shortcomings and their virtues, and the impact of the papacy on world history. He conducts us masterfully on a tour of the lives of the popes from Peter to Benedict XVI. . . . Entertaining and deeply researched, Norwich’s history offers a wonderful introduction to papal lives.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Historian, travel writer, and television documentarian Norwich presents an excellent, often surprising history of that 2,000-year-old institution….he focuses on political history as he traces the evolution of the papacy as an institution, while at the same time providing entertaining profiles of the most historically significant popes….An outstanding historical survey.”
—Booklist
“When Norwich writes, I read; this member of the House of Lords is a notable and engrossing historian, perhaps best known for his monumental study of Byzantium. Here he offers a history of the nearly two-millennia-old papacy that should be popular with many readers.”
—Library Journal
“A spirited, concise chronicle of the accomplishments of the most noteworthy popes. . . . Norwich doesn’t skirt controversies, ancient and present, in this broad, clear-eyed assessment.”
—Kirkus Reviews
A SWEEPING CHRONICLE OF ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT—AND CONTROVERSIAL—INSTITUTIONS IN HISTORY
With the papacy embattled in recent years, it is essential to have the perspective of one of the world’s most accomplished historians. In Absolute Monarchs, John Julius Norwich captures nearly two thousand years of inspiration and devotion, intrigue and scandal. The men (and maybe one woman) who have held this position of infallible power over millions have ranged from heroes to rogues, admirably wise to utterly decadent. Norwich, who knew two popes and had private audiences with two others, recounts in riveting detail the histories of the most significant popes and what they meant politically, culturally, and socially to Rome and to the world.
Norwich presents such brave popes as Innocent I, who in the fifth century successfully negotiated with Alaric the Goth, an invader civil authorities could not defeat, and Leo I, who two decades later tamed (and perhaps paid off) Attila the Hun. Here, too, are the scandalous figures: Pope Joan, the mythic woman said (without any substantiation) to have been elected in 855, and the infamous “pornocracy,” the five libertines who were descendants or lovers of Marozia, debauched daughter of one of Rome’s most powerful families.
Absolute Monarchs brilliantly portrays reformers such as Pope Paul III, “the greatest pontiff of the sixteenth century,” who reinterpreted the Church’s teaching and discipline, and John XXIII, who in five short years starting in 1958 “opened up the church to the twentieth century,” instituting reforms that led to Vatican II. Norwich brings the story to the present day with Benedict XVI, who is coping with a global priest sex scandal.
Epic and compelling, Absolute Monarchs is the astonishing story of some of history’s most revered and reviled figures, men who still cast light and shadows on the Vatican and the world today.
“Absolute Monarchs sprawls across Europe and the Levant, over two millenniums, and with an impossibly immense cast: 265 popes, feral hordes of Vandals, Huns and Visigoths, expansionist emperors, Byzantine intriguers, Borgias and Medicis, heretic zealots, conspiring clerics, bestial inquisitors and more. Norwich manages to organize this crowded stage and produce a rollicking narrative. He keeps things moving at nearly beach-read pace.”
—Bill Keller, New York Times Book Review, Cover review
“Renowned historian Norwich offers a rollicking account of the men who held the papal office, their shortcomings and their virtues, and the impact of the papacy on world history. He conducts us masterfully on a tour of the lives of the popes from Peter to Benedict XVI. . . . Entertaining and deeply researched, Norwich’s history offers a wonderful introduction to papal lives.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Historian, travel writer, and television documentarian Norwich presents an excellent, often surprising history of that 2,000-year-old institution….he focuses on political history as he traces the evolution of the papacy as an institution, while at the same time providing entertaining profiles of the most historically significant popes….An outstanding historical survey.”
—Booklist
“When Norwich writes, I read; this member of the House of Lords is a notable and engrossing historian, perhaps best known for his monumental study of Byzantium. Here he offers a history of the nearly two-millennia-old papacy that should be popular with many readers.”
—Library Journal
“A spirited, concise chronicle of the accomplishments of the most noteworthy popes. . . . Norwich doesn’t skirt controversies, ancient and present, in this broad, clear-eyed assessment.”
—Kirkus Reviews
A SWEEPING CHRONICLE OF ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT—AND CONTROVERSIAL—INSTITUTIONS IN HISTORY
With the papacy embattled in recent years, it is essential to have the perspective of one of the world’s most accomplished historians. In Absolute Monarchs, John Julius Norwich captures nearly two thousand years of inspiration and devotion, intrigue and scandal. The men (and maybe one woman) who have held this position of infallible power over millions have ranged from heroes to rogues, admirably wise to utterly decadent. Norwich, who knew two popes and had private audiences with two others, recounts in riveting detail the histories of the most significant popes and what they meant politically, culturally, and socially to Rome and to the world.
Norwich presents such brave popes as Innocent I, who in the fifth century successfully negotiated with Alaric the Goth, an invader civil authorities could not defeat, and Leo I, who two decades later tamed (and perhaps paid off) Attila the Hun. Here, too, are the scandalous figures: Pope Joan, the mythic woman said (without any substantiation) to have been elected in 855, and the infamous “pornocracy,” the five libertines who were descendants or lovers of Marozia, debauched daughter of one of Rome’s most powerful families.
Absolute Monarchs brilliantly portrays reformers such as Pope Paul III, “the greatest pontiff of the sixteenth century,” who reinterpreted the Church’s teaching and discipline, and John XXIII, who in five short years starting in 1958 “opened up the church to the twentieth century,” instituting reforms that led to Vatican II. Norwich brings the story to the present day with Benedict XVI, who is coping with a global priest sex scandal.
Epic and compelling, Absolute Monarchs is the astonishing story of some of history’s most revered and reviled figures, men who still cast light and shadows on the Vatican and the world today.
メディア掲載レビュー
Praise for John Julius Norwich
“As a historian, Lord Norwich knows what matters. As a writer, he has a taste for beauty, a love of language, and an enlivening wit. He contrives, as no English writer has done before, to sustain a continuous interest in that crowded history.”—Hugh Trevor-Roper, author of The Last Days of Hitler and The Golden Age of Europe
“Norwich is an enchanting and satisfying raconteur.”—The Washington Post
“He has put readers of this generation more in his debt than any other English writer.”—The Sunday Times (London)
“Norwich is a historian of uncommon urbanity: scholarly and erudite but never pedantic. His style is as graceful and easy as it is knowledgeable.”—Los Angeles Times
“[Norwich] is certainly the English language’s most passionate and dedicated chronicler of [Venice’s] extraordinary history.”—The Seattle Times
“As a historian, Lord Norwich knows what matters. As a writer, he has a taste for beauty, a love of language, and an enlivening wit. He contrives, as no English writer has done before, to sustain a continuous interest in that crowded history.”—Hugh Trevor-Roper, author of The Last Days of Hitler and The Golden Age of Europe
“Norwich is an enchanting and satisfying raconteur.”—The Washington Post
“He has put readers of this generation more in his debt than any other English writer.”—The Sunday Times (London)
“Norwich is a historian of uncommon urbanity: scholarly and erudite but never pedantic. His style is as graceful and easy as it is knowledgeable.”—Los Angeles Times
“[Norwich] is certainly the English language’s most passionate and dedicated chronicler of [Venice’s] extraordinary history.”—The Seattle Times
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カスタマーレビュー
Amazon.com で最も参考になったカスタマーレビュー (beta)
Amazon.com:
43件のカスタマーレビュー
159 人中、147人の方が、｢このレビューが参考になった｣と投票しています。
Some say "this author is without peer"- well in this case, the author *is* a peer!
2011/7/14
形式:ハードカバー
John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO is a well known British historian, author of The Normans in Sicily, A History of Venice, A Short History of Byzantium, etc.
Again, the author takes us to the Italian peninsula (well, mostly) for his new book "Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy".
Although Lord Norwich is an expert on this period and area, he makes it known to us that this is no hagiography, as a "agnostic Protestant" he "has no ax to grind". He'd have to have a lot of them (axes, I mean) as this book covers over 250 Popes, Antipopes and various non-popes (such as the "hoary canard" of "Pope Joan"). Over a period of about 2000 years.
Some of the author's favorite Papal figures include Innocent I, Leo(s) I & XIII, and Benedict XIV. But the author seems to have the most fun with the "bad boys" of Papal history, of whom there are a rather large number. Norwich also doesn't mind telling us about a good number of (rather scurrilous) rumors, but to give him his due, he also often debunks them. I love one chapter title "Nicholas I and the Pornocracy"! (New word!)
Some portions may be somewhat controversial- for example Norwich speaks out strongly about Pious XII (WWII period).
But other than that- it's fun, fast paced, and very readable (well, mostly, it is over 500 pages)
Again, the author takes us to the Italian peninsula (well, mostly) for his new book "Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy".
Although Lord Norwich is an expert on this period and area, he makes it known to us that this is no hagiography, as a "agnostic Protestant" he "has no ax to grind". He'd have to have a lot of them (axes, I mean) as this book covers over 250 Popes, Antipopes and various non-popes (such as the "hoary canard" of "Pope Joan"). Over a period of about 2000 years.
Some of the author's favorite Papal figures include Innocent I, Leo(s) I & XIII, and Benedict XIV. But the author seems to have the most fun with the "bad boys" of Papal history, of whom there are a rather large number. Norwich also doesn't mind telling us about a good number of (rather scurrilous) rumors, but to give him his due, he also often debunks them. I love one chapter title "Nicholas I and the Pornocracy"! (New word!)
Some portions may be somewhat controversial- for example Norwich speaks out strongly about Pious XII (WWII period).
But other than that- it's fun, fast paced, and very readable (well, mostly, it is over 500 pages)
26 人中、23人の方が、｢このレビューが参考になった｣と投票しています。
A History of the Papacy
2011/8/24
形式:ハードカバー|Amazonが確認した購入
Some years ago, Mr. Norwich wrote a book called Shakespeare's Kings where he laid out the history behind Shakespeare's history plays. I really enjoyed that book. Now he's back with a history of the papacy, and I enjoyed this one as well.
Mr. Norwich is very smart in the way he organized this book. Having read a number of other books on the papacy, I find that they are often quite difficult to read straight through because there's just so much stuff, both truth and legend. He wisely sticks to what we can be confident is factual (with rare exception--for example, he devotes a chapter to "Pope Joan"; still, he acknowledges that she is most likely completely fictional). This means he gets through the first 1000 years pretty quickly (with some popes barely getting a mention) and devotes more of his energy to later popes. In fact, I feel he's at his best when he gets to the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. His history of this period is really fascinating.
And, unlike many authors of serious history, Mr. Norwich has a very readable prose style. Occasionally, his asides can be off-putting and, because he's a bit more casual, he turns the idiosyncratic phrase every once in awhile. Still, it's a much better experience than the ponderous prose of most papacy tomes.
If there's anything that I don't like about this book, it's something that cannot really be laid at Mr. Norwich's door. It's that so few popes, at least the ones we know much about, have really been great men. Mr. Norwich takes a balanced approach and it's even clear that he admires a number of the popes; however, this book does not make the papacy shine. Still, Absolute Monarchs is an education, and a readable one at that. It's hard to ask for more.
Mr. Norwich is very smart in the way he organized this book. Having read a number of other books on the papacy, I find that they are often quite difficult to read straight through because there's just so much stuff, both truth and legend. He wisely sticks to what we can be confident is factual (with rare exception--for example, he devotes a chapter to "Pope Joan"; still, he acknowledges that she is most likely completely fictional). This means he gets through the first 1000 years pretty quickly (with some popes barely getting a mention) and devotes more of his energy to later popes. In fact, I feel he's at his best when he gets to the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. His history of this period is really fascinating.
And, unlike many authors of serious history, Mr. Norwich has a very readable prose style. Occasionally, his asides can be off-putting and, because he's a bit more casual, he turns the idiosyncratic phrase every once in awhile. Still, it's a much better experience than the ponderous prose of most papacy tomes.
If there's anything that I don't like about this book, it's something that cannot really be laid at Mr. Norwich's door. It's that so few popes, at least the ones we know much about, have really been great men. Mr. Norwich takes a balanced approach and it's even clear that he admires a number of the popes; however, this book does not make the papacy shine. Still, Absolute Monarchs is an education, and a readable one at that. It's hard to ask for more.
146 人中、114人の方が、｢このレビューが参考になった｣と投票しています。
Nothing Astonishing
2011/7/19
形式:ハードカバー|Amazonが確認した購入
I have read the author's history of the Byzantine Empire and his work on the Mediterranean Sea. I enjoyed the former; the latter not so much.
When I purchased this latest effort I was encouraged by the statement that its targeted audience is "the average intelligent reader who simply would like to know more about..an astonishing story of the most astonishing political, social, and spiritual institution ever created." I was anxious to read this story by this self-proclaimed "agnostic Protestant."
From the get-go my enthusiasm was tempered, and in the end I was not only not astonished but I was disappointed. Why? In a nutshell: 1. It has no overarching theme or viewpoint. 2. It contains no new scholarship. 3. It has no reflection, no conclusion and no summary. 4. Other than the title itself, it contains no reference to the term, "absolute monarchs." (Maybe it is a marketing gimmick to sell books.)
In the end it is a well-written, long narrative of the social and political aspects of the institution of the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church using selected Popes and selected groupings (e.g., "The Monsters") for illustrative and story-telling purposes.
If you are somewhat familiar with the history of the Vatican and its Popes you may want to consider this as a casual reference book. If you are a scholar looking for new information and well-documented sources you should probably skip it. If you are looking for a journeyman-like account of some selected Popes' careers and biographies then you should consider reading it.
Warning: This book may be offensive to some devout Roman Catholics. It shouldn't be. It is merely the story about human beings with all their warts and curls who were elected leaders of Jesus Christ's Church here on earth. Some were great and some had their failings and foibles. They were just like you, me and Sir John.
Nothing "astonishing" here.
When I purchased this latest effort I was encouraged by the statement that its targeted audience is "the average intelligent reader who simply would like to know more about..an astonishing story of the most astonishing political, social, and spiritual institution ever created." I was anxious to read this story by this self-proclaimed "agnostic Protestant."
From the get-go my enthusiasm was tempered, and in the end I was not only not astonished but I was disappointed. Why? In a nutshell: 1. It has no overarching theme or viewpoint. 2. It contains no new scholarship. 3. It has no reflection, no conclusion and no summary. 4. Other than the title itself, it contains no reference to the term, "absolute monarchs." (Maybe it is a marketing gimmick to sell books.)
In the end it is a well-written, long narrative of the social and political aspects of the institution of the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church using selected Popes and selected groupings (e.g., "The Monsters") for illustrative and story-telling purposes.
If you are somewhat familiar with the history of the Vatican and its Popes you may want to consider this as a casual reference book. If you are a scholar looking for new information and well-documented sources you should probably skip it. If you are looking for a journeyman-like account of some selected Popes' careers and biographies then you should consider reading it.
Warning: This book may be offensive to some devout Roman Catholics. It shouldn't be. It is merely the story about human beings with all their warts and curls who were elected leaders of Jesus Christ's Church here on earth. Some were great and some had their failings and foibles. They were just like you, me and Sir John.
Nothing "astonishing" here.
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