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NY TIMES BESTSELLER   In a share that catches almost two-thousand years of motivation and interest, John Julius Norwich recounts in detail the backgrounds of the very substantial popes and what they intended politically, culturally, and socially to the planet and to Rome. Norwich provides such popes as Harmless I, who in the sixth century effectively discussed with Alaric the Goth, an enemy municipal experts couldn't beat; Leo I, who 2 decades later trained (and possibly reduced) Attila the Hun; the notorious “pornocracy”—the five libertines who were descendants or enthusiasts of Marozia, debauched child of 1 of Rome’s most effective people; Pope Paul III, “the best pontiff of the sixteenth century,” who reinterpreted the Church’s training and self-control; John XXIII, who in five brief years beginning in 1958 implemented reforms that resulted in Vatican II; and Benedict XVI, who is dealing with today’s worldwide priest sex scandal. Legendary and persuasive, Complete Monarchs is definitely an enthralling background from “a charming and gratifying raconteur” (The Washington Post).