Done!

Finally, I have finished reading Paul Kengor's A Pope and a President.

It was a fascinating and enjoyable read and one I definitely would recommend to any person interested in history, particularly the history of the ending of the Iron Curtain.

I reviewed the book already and posted it here.

"A Pope and A President" (or "The Russians Did It!")

Above, President Reagan and Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.

As I am writing this, I am about 4/5 through the book, A Pope and A President, John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century by Paul Kengor (ISI Books).

Normally, I will finish a book before writing a review of it. In this case, I feel that I have read enough to review it now.

This is one fascinating story on how the collaboration between Pope John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan, two men who had much in common (including assassination attempts of each within weeks of each other in 1981), brought down the Iron Curtain in Europe and, not too long after, in the Soviet Union. All part of the "DP" (Divine Plan).

Upon Pope John Paul II's elevation as the Holy See, Reagan saw that he would have an ally in his efforts to end the Soviet grip on Eastern Europe. The rise of the Solidarity labor union in Poland along with the Polish Pope, told Reagan that Poland was the "key" to ending communism in Eastern Europe.

The books tells of the history of clashes between the Roman Catholic Church and communist rulers from the time of the Bolshevik's rise in Czarist Russia through the Cold War. Coinciding with the rise of communism in Russia, the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima by three children had a big effect on the Pope and the President, especially the three secrets of Fatima. The assassination attempt on the Pope took place on May 13, 1981, an anniversary date of the May 13, 1917 appearance of the Virgin Mary's apparition in Portugal.

The shooting of Pope John Paul II, it is revealed, wasn't just from a lone assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca, a professional Turkish assassin. The book makes a strong case that the Bulgarian secret service, under the direction of the Soviet GRU (Soviet military intelligence) and not the Soviet KGB, were behind the assassination attempt on the Pope. The bottom line: The Russians Did It!  (This is also the title of Chapter 29.)

Kengor's writing style is very easy to follow as he writes conversationally, as if he is giving a lecture in a classroom setting. This is truly a great read.

This is a fascinating book and I highly recommend it. My only disappointment with the book is that it contains no photographs to also enjoy.

My grade: A+.

A Little Book Run

Above, inside Barnes & Noble in Calabasas. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This evening, I was tasked by my former roommate, Jessica, who is currently hospitalized, to pick up a book for her.

She wanted to read James Patterson's Crazy House. The "problem" was, there are no bookstores that I could think of nearby. B. Dalton Booksellers and Border's Books are no more. I have been buying books through Amazon.com lately. So I checked online and found that there's a Barnes & Noble still open in Calabasas at The Commons shopping center, eight miles away.

I called and asked them to hold a copy for me. I was going to go there tomorrow morning, but decided to go there this evening. So I went.

When I got to Barnes & Noble, I went looking for Paul Kengor's A Pope and A President, about the collaboration between Pope John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan that brought down the Iron Curtain, for myself. It was located in the World History section.

Once I got a copy, I headed to the cashier where the Crazy House book was being held for me. Sure enough, they got it right away and I was soon on the way to the hospital to give Jes her book.

It is nice to see a bookstore with new books is still around in the San Fernando Valley. It looks like I'll be going there more often.

A Pope and a President

Above, President Reagan meets with Pope John Paul II during a visit to the Papal
 Library in the Vatican Pontifical Palace. Reagan Presidential Library Photo.

A new book is now out about the relationship between a protestant U.S. President, Ronald Reagan and the Polish Catholic Pope, John Paul II. It was a relationship of two men who oversaw the implosion and collapse of European and Soviet communism in the 1980s.

National Review has an article on the book, A Pope and a President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century in which author Paul Kengor is interviewed by Kathryn Jean Lopez.

It begins with:

This weekend, Pope Francis marks the 100th anniversary of events in Fatima, Portugal, important to the life of Pope John Paul II and even — as Paul Kengor argues in a new book — President Ronald Reagan. In A Pope and a President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century, Kengor presents both the pope and the president as understanding Divine Providence’s role in their lives and in history. We talk a bit about the bonds between these men and the Marian events in Fatima, which John Paul II believed were intimately connected to the sparing of his life, and more.

To read the full article, go here.