Hardbacks

David Kertzer, longtime Brown University professor and one of the world’s leading scholars of the Catholic Church, has written a groundbreaking work of history full of fascinating characters and intrigue, a book that will forever change our understanding of the Church in the years before World War II. Contrary to the widely accepted account of this time, in which a heroic Church does battle with the Fascist regime, David Kertzer shows that anti-clerical rabble-rouser Mussolini would not have been able to impose his dictatorship on Italy without the scholarly and devout Pope Pius XI’s support. In exchange, the pope expected Mussolini to use his repressive reach to enforce Catholic morality. Even in the face of Mussolini’s increasing embrace of Hitler, each man relied on the other to consolidate his power and pursue his political goals. Reaching from Sistine Chapel conclaves to roaring Fascist crowds, The Pope and Mussolini is a thrilling history, surprising and finely-wrought.