"Book synopsis
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 8226 8220The most important book ever written about the Catholic Church and its conduct during World War II The best nonfiction book of the summer82218212Daniel Silva on the Today show 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 Prize8211winning author of The Pope and MussoliniWhen 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 himIn 2020, Pius XII8217s archives were finally opened, and David I Kertzer8212widely recognized as one of the world8217s leading Vatican scholars8212has been mining this new material ever since, revealing how the pope came to set aside moral leadership in order to preserve his church8217s powerBased 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 Europe8217s Jews The book clears away the myths and sheer falsehoods surrounding the pope8217s actions from 1939 to 1945, showing why the pope repeatedly bent to the wills of Hitler and MussoliniJust as Kertzer8217s Pulitzer Prize8211winning 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 8220This remarkably researched book is replete with revelations that deserve the adjective 8216explosive,82178221 says Kevin Madigan, Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard University 8220The Pope at War is a masterpiece8221
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