Anticipating the 50th anniversary in 2013 of the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) with the likely raising of Pope John XXIII to sainthood, Tobin (vice president for university advancement, Seton Hall Univ.; Selecting the Pope) offers a readable biography of the humble Angelo Roncalli (1881–1963). Elected in 1958 as a harmless "transitional" pope, Roncalli's pivotal ideas of aggiornamento (updating) moved an institutional church from entrenchment to engagement with the modern world through Vatican II. While many biographies of Pope John XXIII have been written, especially in the 1960s, Tobin offers a 50-year contextual perspective on world events leading to Vatican II and beyond. He identifies such factors that shaped Pope John's impact as his peasant background, his humanitarian outlook, and his participation in diplomatic church activities throughout Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, France, as patriarch of Venice, and, finally, as pontiff. VERDICT Both biography and Vatican II overview, this book offers new generations interested in religion and Roman Catholic Church history a fresh look at a world figure who balanced continuity with change and opened dialogs with believers and nonbelievers alike. Recommended.—Anna M. Donnelly, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NY