Documenting fifteen hundred years of history in 300 pages is a daunting task, but one that priest and Georgetown University professor O'Malley handles with gusto and a fair hand; considering the level of emotion that the Papacy can inspire, O'Malley reserves his enthusiasm for the unexpected twists of history, rather than any particular character or school of thought. In concise but engaging prose, O'Malley manages to find virtue in popes maligned by history, and a critical approach to the frequently-lauded, while keeping an eye on the world at large....Readers eager for a breezy survey of papal history will be pleased, so long as they bring along a basic understanding of Catholic doctrine and history (or at least a capable glossary).
— Publishers Weekly, December 2009
For a fair-minded, lively, easy-to-read account of the oldest surviving institution in the Western world, O'Malley's offering is hard to beat.
— National Catholic Reporter, December 2009
John W. O'Malley, S.J., is not only the dean of American Catholic historians, he is also one of the church's greatest and most accomplished teachers. In his superb new book, Father O'Malley combines immense learning, sparkling prose and fascinating insights to introduce readers to the always colorful history of the papacy. There can be no better guide for the educated reader to the story of the popes than Father O'Malley.
— James Martin, SJ, author of My Life with the Saints
O'Malley's offering is simple and straightforward, a perfect introduction to the subject and an easy read.
— The Tablet, November 14, 2009
Fr. O' Malley is a gifted writer, and though he must by necessity move fairly quickly through the centuries, he is capable at lingering on these characters enough to give a sense of their personality and place in the historical drama around them. He is also good at showing the movement and growth of the papacy throughout the past two millennia.
— Catholic Sun, November 5, 2009
..A History of the Popes: From Peter to the Present is a well-written synthesis succeeding in its unpretending aim to be an accessible guide through the immensely complicated terrain of 2000 years of papal history.
— Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses
This is a paperback edition of the highly readable and engaging 2010 book by O'Malley, a Jesuit who teaches theology at Georgetown University. It's far from a simple listing or a series of encyclopedia-like entries. Rather, it's an explanation of the context in which the various popes served, including some of the history that, frankly, the church would much rather forget or at least ignore. O'Malley, though clearly a committed Catholic, is willing to look at the obvious questions surrounding the idea that the Apostle Peter can be considered the first pope -- at a time when there was barely even a Christian church.
— The Book Corner
This is a paperback edition of the highly readable and engaging 2010 book by O'Malley, a Jesuit who teaches theology at Georgetown University. It's far from a simple listing or a series of encyclopedia-like entries. Rather, it's an explanation of the context in which the various popes served, including some of the history that, frankly, the church would much rather forget or at least ignore. O'Malley, though clearly a committed Catholic, is willing to look at the obvious questions surrounding the idea that the Apostle Peter can be considered the first pope -- at a time when there was barely even a Christian church. Despite all the ups and downs, the great men and the knaves who have occupied the Vatican throne, "the papacy has proved to be a remarkably resilient institution," the author concludes. In fact, it has undergone many changes over the centuries and today it may be at (or just past) the peak of its power and reach. Whether it can survive in its current form and state is an unanswerable question, though the history O'Malley gives us suggests some kind of change eventually is inevitable.
— Faith Matters
O’Malley has produced yet another remarkable text and places us all in his debt. To take on such a monumental task as compiling a single-volume historical account of the 266 generally accepted church leaders who have followed in the footsteps of Peter is a truly daunting task.”
This volume is a gem that will inform, entertain, amuse, and inspire countless readers from widely differing backgrounds.
O’M has deliberately written this book for a wider audience, and its prose, as ever, is wonderfully lucid and stylish, peppered with fascinating anecdotes and lesser-known aspects of history that grip the reader’s attention throughout
O’M is not afraid to get embroiled in the most contentious historical questions alone the way, including some of the most significant of all in this field of study
His observations on some of the most critical questions pertaining to the papacy and the church in general are consistently thoughtful and measured
Throughout, with characteristic succinctness, wit, and historiographical elegance, O’M. explores the personal and social origins and backgrounds of his subjects and tries to discern their personalities throughout.
This book will make a wonderful textbook at various levels, as well as a discussion text for parish groups and perhaps especially for ecumenical discussion groups. It will also be a cherished companion for readers seeking a less dense but nonetheless stimulating immersion into nearly 2000 years of history, regardless of their level of theological and historical training. Above all else, time and again O’M stirs the reader to think about individual popes, historical periods, and ecclesiological questions in a different way—no mean feat, given the multitude of similar textbooks that have passed under the bridge
— Liturgical Press
In 2006, John O’Malley, a well-regarded Jesuit historian of Christianity, taped thirty-six lectures on the history of the papacy. He then took the transcripts of those tapes and rewrote them to produce this book…. is a compact, readable, and reliable work on the papacy by one of our very best church historians.
— The Review of Politics
In John O'Malley's history of the popes, the accent is on the mischievous — typically highlighting popes flouting their authority or shouldering the burdens of office without the requisite aplomb.
— The Living Church