This book was purchased by me for my brother-in-law, Michael Fletcher. The following is his review:-

"Dr Pham has written a very readable and informative book about an extraordinary institution that has outlived nations and empires.

Anybody interested in the history of the Catholic Church will find that Dr Pham's use of history, objective analysis and anecdotes will answer many of their questions regarding the history of the Papacy"

John Peter Pham's "Heir of the Fisherman" is the latest in a series of books about the Conclave, the centuries-old ritual of Papal death and succession, a ritual we just witnessed two months ago. What distinguishes this book from similar books (e.g., John Allen's "Conclave") is that its writing style is more scholarly/academic (so it is not an easy read for non-academics) than Allen's book, which is more 'pop' and written in plain English so that lay audience could pick it up quickly. Like Allen's, it describes the process of Papal death and succession, the issues and politics at play, and also has the profiles of the leading Papal candidates (papabile).

However, Pham's book has its unique features as well, such as a detailed explanation on the evolution of Papal elections over two thousand years (Papal election supposed to be more democratic and participatory during early Church period, where all citizens of Rome could cast their ballots for the new Pope, compared with today, where only 120 cardinals under the age of 80 could vote on it). It also has a detailed description of all Papal elections in 20th century and the issues/politics behind each of them. One would understand that the struggle between liberal/reformist wing of the Catholic Chuch versus the conservative/traditionalist wing is nothing new, it has been around for ages, probably since the beginning of the Church.

I would recommend interesting readers to read this book (along with Allen's) to get the understanding of what the Conclave is all about. The downsides of the book (that's why it's 4 stars instead of 5), are: 1) Some of the rituals described are out-of-date and no longer used by the Church today, and the author does not point out this fact clearly (such as: the use of a silver hammer by the cardinal Carmelengo to verify the Pope's death, and the use of the portable Papal throne (sedia gestatoria) and the Papal crown (the tiara) during the new Pope's inaguration) and 2) Some of the events described are repetitive, often the same events were described in two separate chapters, the book needs a better editor.

But overall, it is a great book for those who want to understand the Conclave. The book should not be shelved too quickly, since given that the current Pope is already at an advanced age, we might see another Conclave within the next few years, with the same issues and mostly the same Papal candidates at play.