-Commendable and balanced . . . With crisp writing and an amazing attention to detail, Allen brings readers inside the papal jockeying, covering the days of mourning and the conclave.- --The Los Angeles Times
-A welcome contribution to understanding the new pontificate . . . The Rise of Benedict XVI is a useful chronicle that packs a lot into relatively few pages.-
--Richard John Neuhaus, First Things

-For a current look at the new papacy, Allen is the person to read. He is fair, free from the oracular pomposity of some American commentators, and,...

The first serious journalistic investigation of the highly secretive, controversial organization Opus Dei provides unique insight about the wild rumors surrounding it and discloses its significant influence in the Vatican and on the politics of the Catholic Church.
Opus Dei (literally the work of God ) is an international association of Catholics often labeled as conservative who seek personal Christian perfection and strive to implement Christian ideals in their jobs and in society as a whole. Founded in Spain in 1928, it now has 84,000 members (1,600 of whom are priests) in eighty...