The Pope Who Would Be King

(Hardback)

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The Pulitzer-winning author of The Pope and Mussolini takes on a pivotal, untold story- the bloody revolution that spelled the end of the papacy as a political power and signaled the birth of modern Europe. The longest-reigning pope, Pope Pius IX, also oversaw one of the greatest periods of tumult and transition in Church history. When Pius IX was elected in 1846, the pope was still a king as well as a spiritual leader, and the people of the Papal States sang his praises, hopeful that he would reform the famously corrupt system of "priestly rule" over which his much unloved predecessor, Gregory XVI, had presided. At first, Pius IX tried to please his subjects, replacing priests with laymen in government and even granting the people a constitution. But, as the revolutionary spirit of 1848 swept through Europe, the pope found he could not both please his subjects and defend the rights of the church. The resulting drama--involving a colorful cast of characters, from Louis Napoleon Bonaparte and his rabble-rousing cousin Charles Bonaparte, to Garibaldi, Tocqueville, and Metternich--was one of treachery, double-dealing, and international power politics. By its end, the Papacy--and Europe--was transformed.

Reviews

"Kertzer's brilliant treatment of the crisis in the papacy between 1846 and 1850 reads like a thriller. All the characters, from the poor of Rome to the king of Naples, stand out with a vividness that testifies to his mastery of prose."--The New York Review of Books

"The modern world was forged in a series of revolutions stretching from Philadelphia in 1776 to Paris in 1789 to the cascading cataclysms in Europe in 1848. In this original--and even thrilling--book, David Kertzer gives us a brilliant and surprising portrait of the role of Pius IX in the making of a new democratic reality in the West. Engaging, intelligent, and revealing, The Pope Who Would Be King is essential reading for those seeking to understand the perennial human forces that shape both power and faith."--Jon Meacham, author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

"In this riveting tour de force, David Kertzer shows how and why Pope Pius IX turned Roman Catholicism into the nemesis of modernity, with drastic consequences not only for the church but for the West--consequences felt to this day, when religion and politics form a lethal brew. Elegant writing, the pace of a novel, scrupulous scholarship--these hallmarks of Kertzer's body of work are all in evidence here, wonderfully so."--James Carroll, author of The Cloister

"Kertzer provides an exceptionally deep archival and scholarly foundation and has a rare capacity to tell the story of a critical chapter in European history with novelistic verve. He brilliantly links the history of Italian characters to epochal changes in modern European history, including the changing fortunes of the papacy and its rule over the Papal States, of the time-honored tradition of divine right, and of the separation of church and state."--Kevin Madigan, author of Medieval Christianity

"The Pope Who Would Be King is a remarkable achievement--both a page-turner and a major contribution to scholarship accomplished with outstanding clarity and economy. Kertzer gives this story a notable degree of freshness, and brings out vividly the determination, passions, blood, and gore of this dramatic moment in European history."--John Davis, editor, Journal of Modern Italian Studies

"This lively, sympathetic yet critical account of the early years of the pontificate of Pope Pius IX is worthy of its distinguished author."--Rev. John W. O'Malley, S.J., author of The Jesuits

"Exhilarating and hypnotic, The Pope Who Would Be King shines the spotlight on a time when today's world struggled for birth as the church fought tooth and nail for every last shred of power and relevancy."--John Guare, playwright, Six Degrees of Separation

"Tense . . . probing . . . Diverse personalities, regimes, and philosophies come into focus as formative influences on the unpredictable evolution of church, city, nation, and continent. Essential reading."--Booklist (starred review)

Author Bio

David I. Kertzeris the Paul Dupee, Jr. University Professor of Social Science and professor of anthropology and Italian studies at Brown University, where he served as provost from 2006 to 2011. He is the author of twelve books, includingThe Pope and Mussolini, winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the American Historical Association prize for best book on Italian history, andThe Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara,a finalist for the National Book Award in 1997. He has twice been awarded the Marraro Prize from the Society for Italian Historical Studies for the best book on Italian history and in 2005 was elected to membership in the American Association of Arts and Sciences. He and his wife, Susan, live in Providence, Rhode Island.