Pope Benedict XVI - A Personal Portrait

For the first time of a quarter of a century, the world has a new pope. While people around the world struggle to understand the brilliant and enigmatic Joseph Ratzinger, Heinz-Joachim Fischer offers us this first-hand account of the Pope's astonishing life and ministry: from his early days in Germany to his meteoric rise as Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, confidant of Pope John Paul II and the first new pope of the 21st century.

Dr Fischer is the ideal biographer of the new Pope. As a theologically trained journalist, a friend of Ratzinger, and the 25-year Vatican correspondent for Germany's leading daily newspaper, Fischer understands the life and work of the complex church leader as well as the challenges and questions that confront Benedict XVI in his new role.