About the Author

Vincent Cronin (1924-2011), was a British historical, cultural, and biographical writer, well-known for his many historical biographies and for his two-volume history of the Renaissance. Acclaimed for his scholarly and elegantly written works, he was as one of the finest popular historians of his generation, best known for his biographies of of Louis XIV, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, and Napoleon.

Reviews

Matteo Ricci was, by any standards, an extraordinary man. One concludes from reading this riveting book just how pertinent Ricci remains to both modern China and to the Church, ever ancient and ever new.
-- James V. Schall, S.J., From the Foreword p>A book which does for once deserve the all too lightly used adjective 'outstanding.'
-- Honor Tracy, New Statesman p>A delightfully told story of a truly remarkable man.
-- Rodney Gilbert, New York Herald Tribune"The binoculars of history have brought his life into focus so that Chinese and Western Christians can appreciate both his wisdom and his sanctity are worthy of emulation. This book focuses us today on someone who may be canonized at last and teach us his brilliant ways to evangelize."
-- Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ, Host, EWTN Live p>"In this classic, Matteo Ricci and the other Christian missionaries to China truly come alive, reminding all of us that the heart of the New Evangelization still resides in going out of ourselves and boldly proclaiming the loving mercy of Christ, despite whatever cost."
-- Fr. David Meconi, SJ, St. Louis UniversityThe story of Matteo Ricci's efforts to bring China to the Catholic Faith is an exciting tale, replete with historical, cultural, philosophical and theological material. The style is engaging and often reads like a spy novel. Father Ricci was a brilliant man, possessed of a vast body of knowledge that one would be hard pressed to find in a single individual today. The driving passion of his life, however, was the conversion of China.
-- Fr. Peter Stravinskas, The Catholic Response