When Pius VII excommunicated Bonaparte in 1807 for annexing the Papal States, he reciprocated by putting him under house arrest in Savona, where he remained for five years. Such was the difficult beginning of the modern Church which John T McGreevy explores in his fine book Catholicism: A Global History from the French Revolution to Pope Francis

Henry Kissinger's new book brings a word of caution for today’s leaders: societies become great not by factional triumphs or the destruction of domestic adversaries, but by common purpose and reconciliation. He concludes that the criterion by which to judge the leader in history remains unchanged: to transcend circumstance by vision and dedication