Easy to read trip through the papacy, discussing views and attitudes on sex, and the actual sexual escapades of many of the popes, who were for the most part not chaste and celibate. It is difficult to believe all of the allegations made here (some of it seems biologically unlikely if not impossible), and since the author includes no bibliography, there is no way to check the reliability of his sources. Some of the information was obviously written by enemies of the popes in question, which could mean that they have been somewhat exaggerated to make them look bad. The lack of a bibliography is the most serious flaw; the book is lively and well written, and the chronology of the popes at the end can help to straighten them out when they start to run together. ( )

It was interesting seeing the scandals of the popes, but the book would have benefited from a better flow and a bibliography to substantiate all of the actions of these popes. It suffers from lack of evidence and a very chaotic flow. ( )

Meh. I think this book had some substantial inaccuracies -- I have read that Lucrezia Borgia was actually a decent woman who never committed any incest or killed anybody (though her dad and brother are another story). I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as I thought I would; I thought it was shallow as well as sloppily researched. ( )