David Given Schwarm

The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe by David I. Kertzer My rating: 2 of 5 stars Ugh. This is a tough one… the book covers a topic poorly documented in English–there are not nearly enough books on Italian Fascism. There are not enough papal histories. There are not enough stories on the rise of fascism. The author had fantastic access to critical archives, many of which were fairly newly made available by the Church during his investigation. And investigation is the problem, I think. This is not a history, this is not a story of understanding or explanation, this is an author with an agenda out to prove a point…which is unfortunate, because there really is a very important story here–something critical & human. A story that could have been told very well if the text did not continually focus on proving Catholics are Nazi pedophiles… A tough & disappointing read… View all my reviews