Rating: 
Summary: Anti-Catholicism
Review: This is not a work of history. There is nothing new here, except a distortion of Church documents that borders on the risible. Cornwell systematically ignores all evidence that shows the pro-Semitic side of Pius XII: his speeches against German anti-Semitism at Lourdes as Secretary of State; his many diplomatic protests against the treatment of the Jews; his use of Osservatore Romano and Vatican Radio to protest Nazi atrocities. He then tries to strain a "hidden" anti-Semitism out of obscure comments by Pius XII; for example, a 1919 statement about an anti-Catholic, communist mob in Germany led by a Jewish leader. The leader was in fact Jewish and the future Pius XII offers no criticism whatsoever of the leader's ethnic or religious background. So bizarre is this hatchet-job on Pius XII that Cornwell blames the future pope for starting World War I! Accept the book for what it is: a bitter attack by an ex-Catholic on the church he now despises.
Rating: 
Summary: defending john cornwell and his books
Review: I think thath John Cornwell is a excelent journalist. He is not "anti-catholic" . all the persons who find this book horrible because their defending the popes, should read the popes andthe catholic church history. the most horrible crimes since "The cruzadas" "Spanish Inquisition" Wordl war Iand II came from Catholic Church. Religion should stay out of politics. The blood stain inthe history can not be erased with the apology of John Paul II. And Pius XIIand The Nazis they had a Concordate. Read history Please.
Rating: 
Summary: Shocking if only small part is true!
Review: Being not Catholic or Jewish, this book opened my eyes to this side of WWII I never knew. Well documented and researached work which portrays the papacy movement to ultimate,unchecked power which had massive consequences when coupled with the Nazi uprising. You can feel the author's respect for his church and the pain he feels in presenting a true and accurate picture of what occurred based on his findings in primary and secondary historical sources. So revealing was the anti-Semitism within the Vatican for years and Pacelli's political maneuvering to look so moral and compassionate to all peoples when all the while his silence meant so horrible a fate to thousands.
Rating:
Summary: misleading.....
Review: It seems as though many people either vehemently object to or support the merits of this book..... anybody can take either side of the debate and make it sound as if they are right while not having to deal with having their data put to the test...... I have heard cornwell attempt to defend his books merit in a debate on the radio.... it seems as though when his book is put to the test it fails miserably as was exhibited by his inability to hold his own in the debate.... I think people on both sides of the debate should read material supporting both standpoints... maybe then they will reach some sort of consensus.... the truth sure was clarified when listening to cornwells debate. Besides, simply reading this book while refusing to take into account the other side (or visa versa) simply amounts to ignorance of the topic.
Rating:
Summary: Innacurate from the beginning
Review: Upon first seeing the cover I could tell that the author was going to give twisted truth. The cover of this book is a perfect example. It tries to give the impression that those may be Hitler soldiers, and takes away the open door that is shown in the European title. The reason being, most people reading this book in the US will be average Americans who may not know alot about the history. The book given in Europe would be given to Germans and British people who have alot more understanding and knowledge about what happened. Thats why in the European cover, the opened door is shown and the photo is clear. All that aside, the author tries his hardest to defend his anti-catholic statements. He gives incomplete accounts, or tries to lead you in the wrong direction. If you took the time to read this book, take the time to read "Hitler, the War, and the Pope" by Ronald J. Rychlak. That is a direct response to this book. When reading both, you will see why Jewish historian Michael Tagliacozzo, responsible for the Beth Lohame Haghettaot (Center of Studies on the Shoah and Resistance) in Italy(one of the world's largest museums and centers of documentation on the Holocaust) recently said Pope Pacelli was the only one who intervened to impede the deportation of Jews. Michael Tagliacozzo is still alive and even acknowledges his own life was saved by Pope Pacelli. You will also see why then Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli converted to the Catholic Church shortly after. Even changing his name to Eugenio to honor the Pope. Even though Zolli claimed he converted for theological reasons, many still believe he converted because of what the Catholic Church did. His book is also sold here at Amazon, "Before the Dawn"by Eugenio Zolli. So those who are in search for clear objective truth, will not find it hard to see that the Catholic Church in fact did stand strong for the Jews, stronger than anybody of any organization at the time. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Cornwell's distortion
Review: John Cornwell presents a portrayal Pius XII which shows his bius against the Catholic Church in general and papal authority in particular. His research has many subtle flaws which will leave many readers bewildered as to the truth surrounding the events of WWII.
Rating:
Summary: WHO IS TELLING THE TRUTH..... CORNWELL OR THE JEWS?
Review: This book may have some value as a comical exhibition of the legnths some people will go to discredit the church, besides that this book is worth little else....... Cornwell obviously is not jewish by any means..... however the chief Rabbi of Rome who lived during WWII and was a firsthand witness of what pope Puis XII did was a jew. Cornwell didnt live out the Holocaust first hand like the Chief Rabbi either. The question I ask you is which story are you going to believe? Cornwell who based his book mainly on his reading of anti-catholic propaganda. Or the Chief Rabbi of Rome who lived through the holocaust? Perhaps Cornwell is an anti-catholic but thats in stark contrast to the Chief Rabbi who was so impressed and deeply moved by all The Church did to save jews that he converted to Catholicism right after the war! In fact he was so moved by all that the pope had done that he choose the name of the pope as his baptismal name! On top of this In appreciation of what Pius did for the Jews, the World Jewish Congress made a large cash gift to the Vatican in 1945; in the same year, Rabbi Herzog of Jerusalem sent a "special blessing" to the Pope "for his lifesaving efforts on behalf of the Jews during the Nazi occupation of Italy"; and when Pius died in 1958, Israel's Foreign Minister Golda Meir gave a him moving eulogy at the United Nations for the same reason..... but thats ok if you wish to remain in denial of the facts, forget all of this (and the tons of other facts which I can't spell out here due to space limitations) and read cornwells book while imagining he is a credible historian.
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Summary: In defense of the title "Hitler's Pope"
Review: Many here have said that the title sensationalizes the book's content. It is true that Pius XII was not Hitler's Pope in the sense that he sympathized with him or in any way approved of his genocidal actions-- in fact, he was (quite remarkably) involved in an anti-Hitler plot at one point. But the title "Pavelic's Pope" wouldn't have meant anything to American readers-- and if there's one area of the war where Pius deserves greatest condemnation, it's how he looked the other way and tolerated the appallingly vicious massacres of Orthodox Serbs by the Catholic Croat Ustashe, some of whose bloodthirstiest leaders were even priests. By comparison, on the subject of the Holocaust, Pius during the actual war was merely a coward, not a sympathizer (though a certain reflexive cultural anti-semitism undoubtedly contributed to his unwillingness to speak out for the Jews); a personage on a par with a Chamberlain rather than a Quisling, one who failed to rise to the occasion presented him by history-- or to the example of Him whose church he claimed to rule. Where Pius truly earned the title of Hitler's Pope-- in the sense of being his dupe, his puppet-- is in his actions before the war. Cornwell makes a compelling case that Catholic political action and organization was the single best hope for curbing Nazi excesses, or even preventing Hitler's rise to power, but that the conspiracy of Pius and the Catholic Center Party leader Monsignor Kass to assert Vatican control in Germany played completely into Hitler's hands. In the name of establishing Roman central authority, he completely neutered the German church at the worst possible moment in history. This might not be a crime; it was unquestionably a disaster, a form of unilateral moral disarmament in the face of a foe ready to strike. Combine it with the disastrous Humanae Vitae of Pius' protege Paul VI, similarly rooted in an assertion of central Roman power against all logic or political reality, and you have the moral and political decline of the Vatican in a nutshell.
Rating:
Summary: Venomous hatred
Review: With no army to command in World War Two, Pope Pius XII had two choices. He could have made a grand gesture of defiance and risked the obliteration of the Vatican and thus destroy all Catholic political effectiveness. Such a gesture would have most likely been a useless gesture. Or Pope Pius XII could work behind the scenes and make it so that 700,000 Jews escaped Hitler's death machine. Pope Pius XII chose the latter, much more wiser, option. This book only brings comfort to those who hate the Catholic Church. A profoundly better book on the subject is Ronald Rychlak's HITLER, THE WAR, AND THE POPE.
Rating:
Summary: Devastating
Review: People may mistake this book for a load of "papist-bashing" by a Protestant or atheist author with an axe to grind. Nothing could be further from the truth. The author is a practicing Catholic and his love for his religion and church can clearly be seen between the lines. Nor does he attempt to portray Pius XII as a monster (John Cornwell is outright dismissive of the picture given in Rolf Hochhuth's "Der Stellvertreter"/"The deputy"): the picture given here is much more complex. A highly intelligent and well educated, ascetic, charismatic leader who was so obsessed with the challenges posed by modernity to his beloved Church, and by the dangers of Bolshevism, that he ended up --- like many conservative politicians from the period --- regarding fascism and Nazism as a lesser evil. While not agreeing as such with Nazi racial antisemitism (which is fundamentally at odds with Catholic teaching) and (not without success) opposing the attempts of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany to turn the local churches into outright branches of these regimes, centuries of Church anti-Judaism, mixed with personal Judeophobia, made him blind to the true nature of the Nazi regime until it was way too late. The book also confirms me in my long-standing opinion that Franz von Papen was wrongly acquitted at Nuerenberg since, while he never laid his own hands on anybody, he played an essential role in the rise to power of Hitler and his despicable henchmen. New to me was the author's attempt to place Pius XII in the context of the struggle within the Church between centralist and decentralizing forces (in many respects parallel with, but not identical to, the conservative/progressive divide within it), with the author clearly favoring the latter tendency. The account of Pius' final years is nothing short of chilling. As a person, he was probably no worse than you, me, or the next guy. But as a leader, Pius XII was "weighed in the balance and found wanting". That some fundamentalist Catholic readers will be offended by this book is, in the immortal words of Heinrich Boell, "neither intentional, nor coincidental, but simply inevitable".
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