The Pope at War by David I Kertzer

The Pope at War by David I Kertzer

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

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

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker

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.

David I.Kertzer was born in New York City in 1948. Paul Dupee, Jr. University Professor of Social Science at Brown University, is also a professor of anthropology and Italian studies. He is the author of Edgardo Mortara's Kidnapping, which was a National Book Award finalist. His book The Popes Versus the Jews was a finalist for the Mark Lynton History Award, and he received the Marraro Prize from the Society for Italian Historical Studies twice, in 1985 and 1990, for the greatest work on Italian history. His wife, Susan, and he live in Providence.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780812989946
ISBN 10	0812989945
Title	The Pope at War
Author	David I Kertzer
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2022-06-07
Number of pages	672
Prizes	Long-listed for PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography 2023
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.