This book claims to reveal prophesies that predicted the rise of communism, World War II, and other major events. It also claims that freemasons blamed pious Catholics for the murder of Jacinta and Francisco the following year in order to fulfill the prophesy of 1917 (in fact they died from natural causes). The author fails to mention that Lucy's "prophesies" were not written down until the 1940's, AFTER all these events had occurred. The New York Times article describing "the Miracle of the Sun" on the day following the event DOES NOT EXIST. If you don't believe me, go to your local library and look it up yourself. This is like the fraudulent Nostradamus e-mails that predicted the World Trade Center disaster, but that only appeared AFTER the event. In fact, "the Miracle of the Sun" never took place and the supposed 70,000 witnesses did not exist!

The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1909 (available online) has scholarly researched articles that prove that both the Rosary and the Shroud of Turin are frauds, but the Catholic Church continues to pawn these on the public. It acts like a parent who tells her child that the tooth fairy stole her tooth in the middle of the night. I know many people will be angry with this review, but I challenge them to research the original sources before giving a blanket condemnation.

This is one the very best books on the subject. The author is truly gifted in telling the story of Fatima. ...[The] apparitions at Fatima have been the most thoroughly investigated in history, and anyone who knows the rigourous standards that the Catholic Church places on such investigations knows it does not advance such venerations as it enthusiastically does such as for the Apparitions of Fatima without it's full belief that these events are valid. In fact, many newspaper reporters were present on the day of the Miracle of Sun, some very unfriendly to the subject of "supposed apparitions" occurring in a remote village in Portugal, which at that time was controlled by socialistic forces. These newpapers (which are documented in the book) came to witness what they thought would be a non-event, and were in the end forced to corroborate the veracity of some very unusual happenings having taken place there--astonishing ones. So to say that they didn't take place because a reviewer below said that the New York Times didn't report it, is just stupid. There were very many witnesses and a great deal of testimony taken from Fatima that this book thoroughly details.... Start with this book. In it you'll find a rich vein of history, spirituality, and truth.

I've read many books on Fatima, and this is the best--hands down. William Thomas Walsh's writing is truly magnificent. Fatima literally comes alive in these pages, with rich descriptions, and a truly exciting prose style.

I must disagree with a previous reviewer that said that the book's age is beginning to show. The apparitions of Fatima occurred in 1917. The fact that the book was written closer to the time-frame of the occurrences there is an asset, not a detriment. And yet the book and it's well regarded message could not be more current. This one is not to be missed.