Half of this book's pages are beautiful 4-color photos of boats (mosly sail, but some power), underway, at anchor. For each, Hughes (a sailor and a pastor) has penned a reflective poem focusing on the Lord and his goodness. Wonderful. I had a copy years ago, lost it, and yesterday my wife found a used copy for me - what a joy. This is a treasure you will use frequently.

There are few books more disappointing than a history book that doesn't adequately explore its thesis. Such is the case with Pontiffs. Hughes mentions in his introduction that he selected popes who "...made a difference." He then goes on to profile eleven pontiffs, from the obvious (St. Peter and Gregory the Great) to the more controversial (Pius VII and Leo X). However, these profiles barely, if ever, explain the reasons why these popes "made a difference." As a result, one finishes the book wondering why Hughes chose these eleven instead of others who have made equally powerful impacts on the papacy.

Pontiffs is good as an introduction to the accomplishments and failures of the discussed popes. If read on that level alone, it serves as a handy, easy to read primer on their lives. But, the book advertises itself as an exploration of popes who "made a difference" in the Church. By failing to explore the thesis more fully, Hughes ends up diminishing his power of his subject.