author
John Alberger
1809–1889
Best known for a fiercely argued 1871 polemic on church power and politics, this 19th-century American writer left behind a work that still stands out for its urgency and controversy. His surviving record is slim, which gives his lone well-known book an especially curious place in historical reading.
1 Audiobook
Monks, Popes, and their Political Intrigues
by John Alberger
About the author
John Alberger (1809–1889) is known today chiefly as the author of Monks, Popes, and their Political Intrigues, a book published in 1871. Library and ebook records consistently connect him with that title, which examines the political influence of the Catholic Church in strongly critical terms.
Little biographical information about him is readily confirmed in major literary sources, and he does not appear to have a broad modern author profile. Because of that, his reputation now rests mostly on this single surviving work and the window it offers into the religious and political anxieties of 19th-century America.
A memorial record gives his lifespan as 1809 to 1889, but beyond that, easily verified details about his personal life are limited. For listeners interested in forgotten nonfiction voices, Alberger is notable less for a large body of work than for the sharp, combative tone of the book that preserved his name.