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The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler 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.”
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"David Kertzer, the son of a World War II U.S. Army chaplain, is a historian who studies Vatican documents newly opened to public scrutiny. In [his] books, he uncovers, in prose with the pace of Tolstoyan revelation, the motives and powers of popes and inquisitors who rule over the intimately personal and communal lives of Jews under their reign. . . . [His books] are neither polemics nor threnodies. They stand instead as the imperatives of scrupulous scholarship."
— Cynthia Ozick, Mosaic Magazine
Quotes
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“This remarkably researched book is replete with revelations that deserve the adjective ‘explosive’…The Pope at War is a masterpiece.”
— Kevin Madigan, Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard University. -
“Documents the private decision-making that led Pope Pius XII to stay essentially silent about Hitler’s genocide and argues that the pontiff’s impact on the war is underestimated. And not in a good way.”
— New York Times -
“The passing of three-quarters of a century has cleared up almost all the mysteries buried in the rubble of World War II…[except] the role of Pope Pius XII and the Vatican in the rise and fall of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy and in the destruction of European Jewry in roundups, mass killings, and concentration camps. Now we have the definitive answer.”
— Boston Globe -
Kertzer has spent decades excavating the Vatican’s hidden history . . . [His] new book . . . documents the private decision-making that led Pope Pius XII to stay essentially silent about Hitler’s genocide and argues that the pontiff’s impact on the war is underestimated. And not in a good way.
— The New York Times -
Remarkable.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -
Engrossing . . . exciting . . . moving.
— Richard Evans, London Review of Books -
“A damning picture of a holy man who chose to remain silent about the mass destruction of European Jewry.
— Haaretz -
A highly readable, a character-driven history well-paced with textured personalities, and a wealth of granular detail . . . [Kertzer] rarely editorializes—the facts are numbingly powerful.
— National Catholic Reporter -
A riveting history and valuable lesson for our time about the perils of neutrality.
— Kirkus Reviews -
Combin[es] extraordinary documentation and elegant writing.
— BookPage -
A captivating account of palace intrigue . . . [his] revelations . . . make sense of a papal tenure often excused away by apologists and, until now, not fully understood by scholars.
— The Forward -
The most authoritative study yet [of Pius XII] . . . a searing indictment.
— HistoryNet“Fascinating, horrifying . . . a damning portrait. -
Thoroughly researched and beautifully narrated.
— Times Literary Supplement -
Kertzer present[s] a highly unflattering evidence of the pope’s role during the Second World War and his silence regarding the Holocaust.
— Ian Kershaw, author of Hitler: A Biography -
The Pope at War is the best historical nonfiction book I have ever read.
— Alan Lightman, author of Einstein’s Dreams -
With Kertzer’s magnum opus, the book on Pius XII is written, the dispute resolved, the case closed.
— James Carroll, author of Constantine’s Sword -
Brace yourself for a story full of horrors.
— Garry Wills, author of Why I Am a Catholic -
Kertzer has outdone himself and crowned his extraordinary career with this volume on Pope Pius XII.
— Kevin Madigan, Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Harvard University -
A magisterial new study of how the Vatican navigated World War II and why Pope Pius XII stayed silent in the face of the mass murder of Jews.
— Ruth Ben-Ghiat, professor of history and Italian studies, New York University -
Engrossing . . . exciting . . . moving.
— Richard J. Evans, London Review of Books -
David Kertzer, the son of a World War II U.S. Army chaplain, is a historian who studies Vatican documents newly opened to public scrutiny. In [his] books, he uncovers, in prose with the pace of Tolstoyan revelation, the motives and powers of popes and inquisitors who rule over the intimately personal and communal lives of Jews under their reign . . . [his books] are neither polemics nor threnodies. They stand instead as the imperatives of scrupulous scholarship.
— Cynthia Ozick, Mosaic Magazine -
“A damning picture of a holy man who chose to remain silent about the mass destruction of European Jewry.
— Haaretz -
A masterly character study of a flawed, tormented leader and a cautionary tale about the perils of both-sides-ism.
— The New Yorker -
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 -
Definitive.
— The Boston Globe
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
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A #1 Amazon bestseller
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Among longlisted titles for PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography, 2023
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About David I. Kertzer
David I. Kertzer is the New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen books books, including The Pope and Mussolini, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, a National Book Award finalist. In 2005 he was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the Paul Dupee, Jr., University Professor of Social Science and professor of anthropology and Italian studies at Brown University, where he formerly served as provost.
About Arthur Morey
Arthur Morey has won three AudioFile Magazine “Best Of” Awards, and his work has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and placed him as a finalist for two Audie Awards. He has acted in a number of productions, both off Broadway in New York and off Loop in Chicago. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He has won awards for his fiction and drama, worked as an editor with several book publishers, and taught literature and writing at Northwestern University. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.