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How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI's Campaign to Stop Hitler
by Peter Eisner
Drawing on untapped resources, exclusive interviews, and new archival research, The Pope's Last Crusade by Peter Eisner is a thrilling narrative that sheds new light on Pope Pius XI's valiant effort to condemn Nazism and the policies of the Third Reich—a crusade that might have changed the course of World War II.
A shocking tale of intrigue and suspense, illustrated with sixteen pages of archival photos, The Pope's Last Crusade: How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI's Campaign to Stop Hitler illuminates this religious leader's daring yet little-known campaign, a spiritual and political battle that would be derailed by Pius's XIs death just a few months later. Peter Eisner reveals how Pius XI intended to unequivocally reject Nazism in one of the most unprecedented and progressive pronouncements ever issued by the Vatican, and how a group of conservative churchmen plotted to prevent it.
For years, only parts of this story have been known. Eisner offers a new interpretation of this historic event and the powerful figures at its center in an essential work that provides thoughtful insight and raises controversial questions impacting our own time.
"Putting aside the author's what-ifs, Eisner has done history and the Vatican a service by retrieving from obscurity a significant episode in Catholic-Jewish relations." - Publishers Weekly
"[A]n interesting work that usefully poses a what-if question while attempting to provide a more balanced view of Vatican policies in the 1930s." - Booklist
"This engrossing look behind the scenes of the Vatican at a pivotal moment in world history will appeal to history buffs. It would make a great book club read as well, where a lively discussion over one of the great 'what ifs' of history could be had." - Library Journal
"An exciting reminder of how Vatican machinations continue to haunt history." - Kirkus Reviews
This information about The Pope's Last Crusade was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Peter Eisner has been an editor and reporter at the Washington Post, Newsday, and the Associated Press. His books include the award-winning The Freedom Line and The Italian Letter, which he wrote with Knut Royce. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.
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