Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII

Backed by a wealth of new research, John Cornwell tells for the first time the story of the World War II career of Eugenio Pacelli, the man who was Pope Pius XII, arguably the most dangerous churchman in modern history. In the first decade of the century, as a brilliant young Vatican lawyer, Pacelli helped shape a new ideology of unprecedented papal power in Germany. In 1933 Hitler became his negotiating partner, an agreement was arranged that granted religious and financial payments to the Catholic Church in exchange for their withdrawal from social and political privillage, ensuring the rise of Nazism.

John Cornwell is Senior Research Fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge, and an award-winning journalist and author. His THIEF IN THE NIGHT: THE DEATH OF POPE JOHN PAUL I (1989) was a world bestseller. He has written on Catholic issues for many publications including the Sunday Times, Independent, Observer and the Tablet.