Lessons in Hope ─ My Unexpected Life With St. John Paul II

A preeminent authority on the Catholic Church and papal biographer describes what he learned from chronicling the life of a Pole who became a saint.

In Lessons in Hope, George Weigel tells the story of his unique friendship with St. John Paul II. As Weigel learns the Pope "from inside," he also offers a first-hand account of the tumult of post-Vatican II Catholicism and the end-game of the Cold War, meeting the heroes who brought down European communism. Later, he shows us the aging Pope grappling with the post-9/11 new world disorder, and teaching new lessons in dignity through his own suffering.

A deeply humane portrait of an eminent scholar learning a saint, Lessons in Hope is essential reading for a anyone seeking a fuller understanding of a world-changing pope.

George Weigel is a New York Times bestselling author and one of the world's leading authorities on the Catholic Church. Weigel is a distinguished senior fellow of Washington's Ethics and Public Policy Center and lives in North Bethesda, Maryland.