The Pope and Mussolini : the secret history of Pius XI and the rise of fascism in Europe
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 499-510) and index.

"The Pope and Mussolini tells the story of two men who came to power in 1922 and together changed the course of twentieth-century history. In most respects, they could not have been more different. One was scholarly and devout, the other thuggish and profane. Yet Pius XI and 'Il Duce' had many things in common. They shared a distrust of democracy and a visceral hatred of Communism. Both were prone to sudden fits of temper and were fiercely protective of the prerogatives of their office. ('We have many interests to protect, ' the Pope declared, soon after Mussolini seized control of the government in 1922.) Each relied on the other to consolidate his power and achieve his political goals. In a challenge to the conventional history of this period, in which a heroic Church does battle with the Fascist regime, Kertzer shows how Pius XI played a crucial role in making Mussolini's dictatorship possible and keeping him in power.

Pulitzer Prize for Biography, 2015