Pope: Poems - Alexander Pope

Advantages: Great informative read
Disadvantages: no

...The Oxford Dictionary of Popes is basically an encyclopaedic listing of all Popes of the Roman Catholic Church. It begins with Saint Peter and progresses in very fine style all the way through to Pope Benedict XVI. It is very laid out and it is obvious that the compilers and authors (J. N. D. Kelly, with new material from Michael Walsh) have really got to grips with a very complex subject matter and field of research. Some of the popes have relatively huge sections devoted to them, others have quite modest sections. Hardly more than a paragraph or two in some instances, but this is due to the fact that some popes very little is known about them, or what works, great or more modest, they might have accomplished, whilst serving as pope. Not only does the book list "legitimate" popes, it also lists what are known as "antipopes... Read review

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Advantages: Rollicking adventures, keep your eyes glued to the book
Disadvantages: Too controversial

...is a very strange man with an ambiguous past. After being jailed for beating a sailor to death, he was supposedly saved by God as the prison cell he was in crumbled after being shone by a bright light. He was later brought up by an archbishop. As Mr Langdon and Neveu escape FBI, interpol and the federal police to resist capture, they are helped by a famous historian, Leigh Teabing, an old friend of Robert's. The final clue, a seeded womb, a fruition of one of the grandmaster's accomplishment, a knight whom A Pope (Alexander Pope) had interred. Robert, with the help of Neveu finally realizes that the answer to unlock the cryptex is actually apple, the fruition of Issac Newton. In a shocking revelation, Teabing reveals that he is the mastermind and attempts to steal the cryptex by holding Sophie at gunpoint. Robert has no choice but to..... Please... Read review

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Advantages: little-known facts are discovered and put together in an interesting story
Disadvantages: a little dry at times

...wrote extensively, much of which no longer exists. He produced mathematical works as well as treatises on philosophy and astronomy. Among his contemporaries were Copernicus, Kepler and Brahe. Galileo’s main problem was with the papacy and especially with Pope Urban VIII. The pope was an intellectually interested man and had met Galileo personally, however the church had to maintain its dogmatic teachings, which Galileo was challenging with his scientific theories. The Dialogue was a great affront to the pope and catholic zeal had to be displayed and thus it was censored. Galileo was sentenced to prison and influential friends ensured that he served his time in bishopric and ambassadorial accommodations. The “Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican” was listed as a prohibited book in 1664 and stayed... Read review

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