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Title details for The Pope at War by David I. Kertzer - Available

The Pope at War

The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler

by David I. Kertzer
Arthur Morey
Audiobook
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The most important book ever written about the Catholic Church and its conduct during World War II.”—Daniel Silva
“Kertzer brings all of his usual detective and narrative skills to [The Pope at War] . . . the most comprehensive account of the Vatican’s relations to the Nazi and fascist regimes before and during the war.”—The Washington Post

“Tolstoyan.”—Cynthia Ozick
Based on newly opened Vatican archives, a groundbreaking, explosive, and riveting book about Pope Pius XII and his actions during World War II, including how he responded to the Holocaust, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Pope and Mussolini
WINNER OF THE JULIA WARD HOWE AWARD • LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD • A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
When Pope Pius XII died in 1958, his papers were sealed in the Vatican Secret Archives, leaving unanswered questions about what he knew and did during World War II. Those questions have only grown and festered, making Pius XII one of the most controversial popes in Church history, especially now as the Vatican prepares to canonize him.
In 2020, Pius XII’s archives were finally opened, and David I. Kertzer—widely recognized as one of the world’s leading Vatican scholars—has been mining this new material ever since, revealing how the pope came to set aside moral leadership in order to preserve his church’s power.
Based on thousands of never-before-seen documents not only from the Vatican, but from archives in Italy, Germany, France, Britain, and the United States, The Pope at War paints a new, dramatic portrait of what the pope did and did not do as war enveloped the continent and as the Nazis began their systematic mass murder of Europe’s Jews. The book clears away the myths and sheer falsehoods surrounding the pope’s actions from 1939 to 1945, showing why the pope repeatedly bent to the wills of Hitler and Mussolini.
Just as Kertzer’s Pulitzer Prize–winning The Pope and Mussolini became the definitive book on Pope Pius XI and the Fascist regime, The Pope at War is destined to become the most influential account of his successor, Pius XII, and his relations with Mussolini and Hitler. Kertzer shows why no full understanding of the course of World War II is complete without knowledge of the dramatic, behind-the-scenes role played by the pope. “This remarkably researched book is replete with revelations that deserve the adjective ‘explosive,’” says Kevin Madigan, Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard University. “The Pope at War is a masterpiece.”

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 7, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593605776
      • File size: 505616 KB
      • Duration: 17:33:21

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      June 10, 2024

      If a person becomes the pope in wartime fascist Europe, does that person safeguard the church or protect its flock? In his latest book, Pulitzer Prize-winning Vatican scholar Kertzer (Prisoner of the Vatican) reveals that this was the question facing Pius XII, a man who spent his career inside the insular world of the Vatican administration, having never served in a parish. The new pope's first act was to destroy all copies of a papal missive written by his predecessor, which indicted Germany and its new racial laws. It was not a promising start for a new pope in a tumultuous time. Pius XII was conciliatory by nature, believing that aligning with those in power was best in order to preserve the church as an institution. He shrank from offending either Hitler or Mussolini and became adept at issuing tepid statements that offended no one. His silence did nothing to help embattled Jews or Catholic priests, many of whom were sent to concentration camps, in the Nazi-conquered territories. Arthur Morey gives a steady professionalism to the narration. VERDICT A timid religious leader, afraid to wield his moral authority against oppression and destruction, reminds listeners of the dangers of silence. Recommended for those interested in the papacy or World War II in Europe.--Cynthia Jensen

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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