Peter's Kingdom: Inside the Papal City

This guide to the ""little monarchy in the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica,'' is a fact-filled tour of the Vatican city-state from its legal framework, colossal bureaucracy and religious conservatorship to its museums and public spaces. Packard (The Queen and Her Court), in this richly researched documentation of the complexities of the central office for 800 million Catholics, traverses the history, art and politics of the unique principality, providing new material from recently opened archives and discussing the role of the present Pope who hopes to lead the Church into its third millennium. On another level, Packard explores such topics as the Vatican's single public restaurant, the artistic riches that are available for viewing and the variety of worldly enterprises that occupy Peter's Kingdom. November