Cheap Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII (Book) (John Cornwell) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII

John Cornwell treats the topic with care and a balanced approach. I'm no expert on the subject, and my knowledge of the Church's relations with the Nazi regime restircted to general readings I've made about WW2 and the holocaust, but I've been impressed with the research and study of the author. His knowledge is rich, both in understanding and analysing historical event and documents (be it the Vatican Canon Law, Hitler's rise to power or international relationship during the war), and with regards to ancedotes and personnal information (He comments, amoung other things, about discussions between Pius XII and both T.S. Elliot and Orson Wells).

Perhaps the most fascinating of Cornwell's insights is his interpretation of Pius XII's actions as part of the trends in the modern Roman Catholic Church. Cornwell forwards a powerful arguement about the struggle of the church between modernisation and pluralism and the more traditional, authoriterian forces with in the church. Those, at least, ring true to me in light of recent decleration, such as the document on the Church's relations with the Jews.

The only weakness I could find was Cornwell's minimal consideration of the arguement that, had the Pope spoken out, many more would have suffered. This seems like a strong arguement for Pius XII's silence, and while it is mentioned, a more detailed analysis of it would have been welcome. Clearly, though, Pius XII did not feel the same about Communist Russia, which he justifiably apposed fiercely, as Cornwell aknowledges.

Eugenio Pacelli's character is very complex and hard to decipher, and I think that this book is an important step in comprehending him and his actions. I would recommand this book to anyone interested in the Roman Catholic Church, The Nazi regime, World War 2 or the holocaust - in short, to everyone.

This book does not let facts interfere with a good story!
If you like to read books that spread lies then this one is for you. The author is not concerned with facts and just wants to make a buck by spreading lies. I wish I could give this book negative stars! Oh well, Mr. Cornwell will have to face Jesus and account for his lies.

In this book the statements by the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church are constantly taken out of context. Based on this as a guidline for Mr. Cornwell's bias - and he is bias in all his books - he could easily write a book proving that Hitler was saving the Jews from the Americans and the other Allies who sought to exterminate them in WWII. It is rare to see an author who can manipulate facts and misquote whith such ease.

For the truth just read other books on the subject or look up the information from the sources he listed and 'see' the truth he overlooked on purpose.

I hope you pray for Mr. Cornwell, I will.

Historical Revisionism
John Cornwell's "Hitler's Pope" is a convincingly written story of the papacy of Eugenio Pacelli (Pius XII) during WWII, a period when the Vatican was completely surrounded by the capital of Mussolini's fascist Rome. Unfortunately the word "story" has profound meaning here, and no matter how convincing a historical statement is, it has no meaning if untrue, and the lies in this book are plentiful and outrageous.

The very title (an unbelievable insult), and the accompanying cover photo of Pacelli walking past a German guard at attention (a lie of visual implication) give a glimpse of the literary chicanery lurking between the covers of this book. The offensiveness of the title speaks for itself - and contrary to what the author would have you believe, the photo was taken when Pacelli was the papal nuncio in Germany, BEFORE Hitler came to power. The soldier in the familiar "Nazi-style" helmet would stand at attention for the entrance and exit of all dignitaries.

The author states in no uncertain terms that Pacelli was a villainous scoundrel, who not only didn't do or say anything to help the Jews, but actually collaborated with the Nazis. Nowhere does he tell of this Pope's heroic, behind-the-scenes rescue of thousands of Jews from the nazis. And nowhere does he answer the two definitive questions begging for an answer, "What SHOULD the Pope have done?" and "What GOOD would it have done?" The author seems to imply that he could have called out the Swiss Guard, defeated both Mussolini and Hitler, and saved all the Jews, while publicly denouncing evil in the world. If you, good reader, are interested in fiction, by all means read this book. But if you think this is factual, you're being fooled by a very successful revisionist of history and the truth.