When in Rome: A Journal of Life in the Vatican City

Lighthearted and altogether fascinating, When in Rome is adelightful backstairs tour of one of the world's most mysterious andeccentric cities. With his wife and three young sons, Robert Hutchinsonmoved to Rome shortly before his thirty-ninth birthday, intending toexplore the Vatican in depth. He sought to capture "the personality ofthe place: the smells and the traffic, the rich delicacies of Romanfood, the perils of the Italian language, the way Italian monsignoripush their way to the front of the line, just like their laycountrymen." When in Rome is the extraordinary journal of his Roman sojourn.

With playful good humor, Hutchinson introduces the varied and colorfulindividuals who live and work in the Vatican. In the process, heexplores the mysterious orders of medieval knights, some dating back tothe First Crusade, which still play a vital role in the Vatican;explains how bumbling Vatican archaeologists found, and then lost, thebones of St. Peter; probes the sex lives of the popes, from the"pornocracy" of Sergius III to the incestuous orgies of Rodrigo Borgia;experiences high fashion in the Holy See, including a visit to thepope's personal tailor; encounters the weird relics of Catholicism, such as the mummified body of St. Pius X and a museum made entirely out ofhuman bones; recounts the true story behind the True Cross, now kept in a run-down church near the Colosseum; and much, much more.

Humorous, irreverent, but ultimately respectful, When in Rome does for the Vatican what A Year in Provence did for the French countryside, in an unforgettable and unprecedentedeyewitness account of one of the most fascinating places on Earth.

Robert J. Hutchinson is an award-winning travel writer and the author of numerous books of popular history, including What Really Happened:  The Lincoln Assassination (Regnery History, 2020), What Really Happened:  The Death of Hitler (Regnery History, 2020)The Dawn of Christianity (Harper Collins, 2017), Searching for Jesus: New Discoveries in the Quest for Jesus of Nazareth (Harper Collins, 2015), The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible (Regnery, 2007), When in Rome: A Journal of Life in Vatican City (Doubleday, 1998) and The Book of Vices: A Collection of Classic Immoral Tales (Putnam). He has presented seminars and public lectures for large groups in the U.S., Germany, and France.

In addition, Hutchinson writes frequently on current affairs andpolitics for such media outlets as Fox News, The Blaze, Mercatornet,Human Events, Catholic Vote, and many others. An avid traveler,Hutchinson is the former managing editor of Hawaii Magazine and the former Hawaii Bureau Chief for The Hollywood Reporter. He lives with his wife and children in a small seaside village.