Major figure in academia.
`Professor Chadwick writes with a sensitive empathy with the Roman
Catholic mind. A well-organised index and a copious descriptive
bibliography complete this magesterial and entertaining
monograph.'
Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol.52/3
`Chadwick's informative study is written, as one would expect, with
wit and with a sinewy elegance. Part of his secret is his ability
to blend material culled from primary and secondary sources with
entertaining and revealing case studies and anecdotes.'
Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol.52/3
`The four pontificates are treated in such breadth that we have
what comes to a history of eight-and-a-half decades of Roman
Catholicism ... Chadwick depicts the four pontiffs vividly.'
Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol.52/3
`compelling and compendious study'
Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol.52/3
`the chief merit of this volume is Chadwick's balance in treating
and assessing the issues in a series of dramatic confrontations and
the character, strengths, and limitations of the popes and many of
the other protagonists.'
Joseph A. Komonchak, Theological Studies, March 00, Vol.61,
No.1.
`quintessential Chadwick: history well researched, attentive to
primary sources, covering a wide range of literature, even Italian.
He contextualizes the creeping, even galloping centralism that has
become characteristic of modern papal governance. Despite his
principal preoccupations with church-state issues, he also analyzes
properly theological themes.'
Michael A. Fahey, S.J., Church History, March 2000, Vol.69,
No.1.
`a magisterial study. Even what is modestly described as a 'select
bibliography' is outstanding.'
Michael A. Fahey, S.J. Church History, March 2000, Vol.69,
No.1.
`Chadwick provides a scholarly but sympathetic picture of the popes
who had confronted the problems of secularization, the impositions
of nationalism and liberalism, and the loss of the temporal
power.'
Frank J. Coppa, Jnl of Church & State, Winter 2000.
`fair and objective in his assessment of both theological and
political issues ... Possessing vast knowledge of the facts, an
unerring eye for significant detail, a ready wit, and a facile
style, Chadwick reveals a mastery of the Latin, Italian, French,
German, English, and Spanish sources, which are listed in the
biography.'
Frank J. Coppa, Jnl of Church & State, Winter 2000.
`A new volume in the Oxford History of the Christian Church, of
which the brothers Chadwick are the editors, must be noteworthy,
and this one is much to be welcomed ... Professor Chadwick is a
prose artist and the book is often delightful to read ... This one
is something of a jewel in an already distinguished series; an
interpretive study which, even if only the brightest undergraduates
will get the best out of it, other scholars cannot but find
stimulating and provocative.'
John M Roberts, EHR, November 1999
`is the most detailed English work to date in this field ... it
provides essential background for anyone who wishes to understand
the significant political and spiritual contributions made by the
papacy in the twentieth century ... This book should remain a
standard in the field of papal studies for years to come.'
J. Francis Watson, History
`wonderful book ... Chadwick's heart is clearly with Pius IX and
the account here given of him and his long pontificate of 32 years
could be claimed as definitive ... there are twelve fascinating
pages on Benedictine history ... It is beautifully written in the
best Chadwickian style.'
Journal of Theological Studies April 1999
`Chadwick brings to his narrative a magisterial knowledge of the
literature in every major European language, an unerring instinct
for the telling detail that reveals more than pages of analysis, a
broad and non-judgemental human sympathy ... Marvellous on the
Churches and bishops of France and Germany, fascinating on tensions
in Russia and Poland ... the whole book is full of compassion and
insight, the mature product of a great and wise historian.'
The Tablet
`A sympathetic introduction to four popes and their interaction
with religion and politics on the mainland in a period of decisive
transitions ... Owen Chadwick would have made a wise cardinal and
perhaps even a nice pope. His cogent analysis of the electoral
process would seem to suggest that we keen an eye out for a
retiring Italian diplomat who likes to stay at home, his windows
slightly ajar.'
Irish Theological Quarterly
`Chadwick is always informative, and writes with a sympathetic
understanding, even of Pius IX and the Syllabus of Errors, which
many a professedly Roman Catholic historian might find it difficult
to emulate ... Reading through this text, one cannot but be
impressed by the immense range of Professor Chadwick's reading and
his knowledge.'
Michael J Walsh, Heythrop Journal, Vol 40, no 4, Oct 99
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