The Pope

On 28 February 2013, a 600-year-old tradition was shattered: Pope Benedict XVI made a startling announcement. He would resign. From the prize-winning screenwriter of The Theory of Everything and Darkest Hour, The Pope is a fascinating, revealing and often funny tale of two very different men whose destinies converge with each other and the wider world. How did these two men become two of the most powerful people on Earth? What does the future hold for the Catholic Church? What is it like to be the Pope? The Pope is a dual biography that masterfully combines these two popes' lives into one gripping narrative. From Benedict and Francis' experiences of war in their homelands - when they were still Joseph and Jorge - and the Church's sexual abuse scandal that shocked the world, to the smoke signals announcing the election of a new pope failing and Benedict's robes being too small, The Pope glitters with the lighter and the darker details of life inside one of the world's most opaque but significant institutions.