The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler

ISBN: 0812989961

Author: Kertzer, David I.

Condition: New

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The most important book ever written about the Catholic Church and its conduct during World War II.-Daniel SilvaKertzer brings all of his usual detective and narrative skills to [The Pope at War] . . . the most comprehensive account of the Vaticans relations to the Nazi and fascist regimes before and during the war.-The Washington PostTolstoyan.-Cynthia OzickBased 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 MussoliniWINNER OF THE JULIA WARD HOWE AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEARWhen 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 XIIs archives were finally opened, and David I. Kertzer-widely recognized as one of the worlds 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 churchs 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 Europes Jews. The book clears away the myths and sheer falsehoods surrounding the popes actions from 1939 to 1945, showing why the pope repeatedly bent to the wills of Hitler and Mussolini.Just as Kertzers 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.