The Pope Who Would Be King

Following his double biography of Pope Pius XI and Mussolini, this volume furnishes us with what might be regarded as the dramatic prelude to that story. It shares many of the qualities of Kertzer's Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece. He brilliantly links the history of Italian characters to epochal changes in modern European history, including the changing fortunes of the papacy and its rule over the Papal States, of the time-honored tradition of divine right, and of the separation of the sacred and secular spheres of government and authority. The red thread of the book, the transformation of a genial and much-loved pope, inclined to liberalize and modernize, to an unloved symbol of reaction, brilliantly binds the whole togetherand with new stories and perceptions that make this book required, and riveting, reading. * Kevin Madigan, author of Medieval Christianity * This lively, sympathetic yet critical account of the early years of the pontificate of Pope Pius IX is worthy of its distinguished author. There is nothing like it in any language. * Rev. John W. OMalley, S.J., author of The Jesuits * A remarkable achievement - both a page-turner and a major contribution to scholarship accomplished with outstanding clarity and economy. Kertzer gives this story a remarkable degree of freshness, and brings out very vividly the determination, passions, blood and gore of this dramatic moment in European history. * John Davis, Editor, Journal of Modern Italian Studies * A riveting tour de force. David Kertzer shows how and why Pope Pius IX turned Roman Catholicism into the nemesis of modernity- with drastic consequences not only for the Church, but for the West-consequences felt to this day, when religion and politics form a lethal brew. Elegant writing, the pace of a novel, scrupulous scholarship - these hallmarks of Kertzer's body of work are all in evidence here, wonderfully so. * James Carroll, author of The Cloister * Kertzer writes lucidly, navigating the crowded scenery of his tale with great deftness. His narrative achieves momentum without sacrificing reflective depth, and makes spaces for the many stories spun by the protagonists themselves as they reasoned their way into and out of the predicaments they faced. * Christopher Clark, London Review of Books *