'Immensely readable ... Lamb's assessment is cool and considered: a thoughtful overview of the conclave's fruit in Leo's first year, and the challenges he faces. The author's gifts for rendering complexity digestible are on full display: American Hope is the most thorough and insightful overview out there of the Church at the start of the Leonine era' - Austen Ivereigh, The Tablet'Incisive ... American...

In October and November of 2001, small numbers of soldiers from the Army Special Forces entered Afghanistan, linked up with elements of the Northern Alliance (an assortment of Afghanis opposed to the Taliban), and, in a remarkably short period of time, destroyed the Taliban regime. Trained to work with indigenous forces and personnel like the Northern Alliance, these soldiers, sometimes riding on horseback, combined modern military technology with ancient techniques of central Asian warfar...

In this book, two national-security experts put the exploits of America’s special operation forces in historical and strategic context. David Tucker and Christopher J. Lamb offer an incisive overview of America’s turbulent experience with special operations. Starting with in-depth interviews with special operators, the authors illustrate the diversity of modern special operations forces and the strategic value of their unique attributes.Despite longstanding and growing public fasci...

In this book, two national-security experts put the exploits of America’s special operation forces in historical and strategic context. David Tucker and Christopher J. Lamb offer an incisive overview of America’s turbulent experience with special operations. Starting with in-depth interviews with special operators, the authors illustrate the diversity of modern special operations forces and the strategic value of their unique attributes.Despite longstanding and growing public fasci...

'Immensely readable ... Lamb's assessment is cool and considered: a thoughtful overview of the conclave's fruit in Leo's first year, and the challenges he faces. The author's gifts for rendering complexity digestible are on full display: American Hope is the most thorough and insightful overview out there of the Church at the start of the Leonine era' - Austen Ivereigh, The Tablet'Incisive ... American...

THE STORY BEHIND THE SCREENPLAY OF THE TWO POPES, THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING ANTHONY HOPKINS AND JONATHAN PRYCE (PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AS THE POPE).From the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of The Theory of Everything and Darkest Hour comes the fascinating and revealing tale of an unprecedented transfer of power, and of two very different men - who both happen to live in the Vatican.In February 20...

A fascinating and enlightening look at the world’s oldest and most mysterious institution, written by an American journalist with unparalleled knowledge about the Vatican's past and present.The sexual abuse scandals that shook American and British Catholicism in 2002 brought to light a long-standing cultural gap between the English-speaking Catholic world and the Vatican. In Rome, the crisis was often seen as an attack on the Church mounted by money-hungry lawyers, a hostile press,...

The news of Benedict XVI stepping down has come as a shock.Perhaps the world will never know the real reasons behind a choice that will forever remain indelibly written in the history of the Church.The Pope’s butler, Paolo Gabriele, has decided to reveal the thorny issues within the Roman Curia and handed me dozens of documents that I have now published along with my research and investigations in this book.“Paolo, are you afraid?” – I asked him one day - “Yes, I am af...

**From the best-selling author and former New York Times investigative reporter, an unprecedented look at the defining struggles of the modern Catholic Church, told through the lives of the last seven popes—carrying us from the wake of World War II up through the present day and providing essential context around the most pressing issues faced by Pope Francis"An extraordinary accomplishment: controversial, but crucial for discussions in today’s Catholic Church.” —Kirku...

In the tradition of Why Nations Fail, this book solves one of the great puzzles of history: Why did the West become the most powerful civilization in the world?Western exceptionalism—the idea that European civilizations are freer, wealthier, and less violent—is a widespread and powerful political idea. It has been a source of peace and prosperity in some societies, and of ethnic cleansing and havoc in others.Yet in The Invention of Power, ...

"Essential reading for historians of [Francis's] papacy in years to come, from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Reformer and Let us Dream." — The TabletAusten Ivereigh's colorful, clear-eyed portrait of Pope Francis takes us inside the Vatican's urgent debate over the future of the church in Wounded ShepherdThis deeply contextual biography centers on the tensions generated by the pope's attempt to turn ...

A captivating insider’s guide to the politics and personalities that will have a tremendous impact on one of the world’s most secretive and important events–the election of a pope.The next time a conclave unfolds in Rome, some 6,000 journalists are expected to descend on the Eternal City to cover the death of John Paul II and report on the election of his successor. The man in white who emerges from the Sistine Chapel at its conclusion will automatically become one of the most impo...