The Pope and Mussolini

"It is faith that moves mountains, not reason."

Mussolini

This years Pulitzer winners have, so far, rocked my socks off. All the Light We Cannot See was beautiful and touching, The 6th Extinction was interesting, well written, and somewhat terrifying. So I figured to give the winner in the Bio category a try.

The Pope and Mussolini, by David I. Kertzer, was fascinating. It follows the life of Pope Pius XI, who I, being neither Catholic nor historically knowledgeable, had never heard of even though he was the pope during the rise of fascism in Italy, a very turbulent and interesting time. Italy is not the place we generally focus on from the mid 1920's to the end of WWII. When I think of that time I think of the American Great Depression, or the Spanish Civil War, or the rise of Hitler and Nazism. 

Reading this book, I was amazed at how much of a part Italy played on the world stage. Fascism really took off in Italy under Mussolini. The straight-armed solute that the Nazi's used is called a Roman Solute (American's used to use it when reciting the Pledge of Alliance.....fun fact), and Hitler modeled his rise to power and the initial structure of his government after the government Mussolini established when he rose to power in Italy, which he couldn't have done without the support of the Catholic Church.

Pope Pius XI was elected in 1922 and reigned until his death in 1939. He oversaw the creation of the Vatican as a sovereign state and saw the rise of Mussolini. His interactions with the new fascist government were critical in Mussolini's rise to power, and Mussolini helped the church achieve many of its goals. That being said, it was not a harmonious union, each struggled against the power of the other (with 99% of Italy Catholic at the time, the church had an enormous amount of power).  

This book was fascinating. I knew nothing of Pope Pius XI, just as I knew nothing about Mussolini's rise to power, though both definitely had a large impact on the world. The writing was impeccable, the history and the players well researched, and the pace at which it pulled me along was wonderful. This is a book that, I think, deserves the prize.