In a chronicle that  captures nearly two thousand years of inspiration and intrigue, John  Julius Norwich recounts in riveting detail the histories of the most  significant popes and what they meant politically, culturally, and  socially to Rome and to the world. Norwich presents such popes as  Innocent I, who in the fifth century successfully negotiated with Alaric  the Goth, an invader civil authorities could not defeat; Leo I, who two  decades later tamed (and perhaps paid off) Attila the Hun; the infamous  “pornocracy”—the five libertines who were descendants or lovers of  Marozia, debauched daughter of one of Rome’s most powerful families;  Pope Paul III, “the greatest pontiff of the sixteenth century,” who  reinterpreted the Church’s teaching and discipline; John XXIII, who in  five short years starting in 1958 instituted reforms that led to Vatican  II; and Benedict XVI, who is coping with today’s global priest sex  scandal. Epic and compelling, Absolute Monarchs is an enthralling history from “an enchanting and satisfying raconteur” (The Washington Post).