In his Introduction, journalist Peter Seewald, who talked to the Holy Father over several hours at Castel Gandolfo for this book, points out that it is the first time a pope has engaged in such a personal interview.  Although Seewald’s questions appear at times a little convoluted and repetitive, he can rightly take credit for...

This is a solid and sensible biography, but it is not a scintillating one.  I have the impression that Adam Sisman is a little wary of his subject; he indicates respect for Hugh Trevor-Roper, but not affection.  Yet without personal warmth to some degree, it is hard to catch the reader’s imagination.  However, there is...

I began this novel, set in Germany between the two world wars, after watching Valkyrie.  I found the film both shallow and grandiose, dominated by clicking heels and clashing chords; the choice of Tom Cruise to play Claus von Stauffenberg was singularly inept.  Cruise is a Hollywood celebrity; the personality of Stauffenberg—an aristocrat, soldier, and man...

On being taken to Mass in the underground basilica at Lourdes, the late Msgr. Alfred Gilbey, that most courteous of men, was moved to comment, “It reminds me of nothing so much as a Nazi rally.”  He was referring to the vast crowds, the raised central stage, and the spotlit altar of this concrete bunker. ...