Kindle
$9.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$16.95
Paperback
$14.44
Kindle Price: $9.99

Save $8.00 (44%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Audiobook Price: $19.68

Save: $6.69 (34%)

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Follow the author

Peter Eisner
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Pope's Last Crusade: How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI's Campaign to Stop Hitler Kindle Edition

by Peter Eisner (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 148 ratings
See all formats and editions

Drawing on untapped resources, exclusive interviews, and new archival research, The Pope’s Last Crusade by Peter Eisner is a thrilling narrative that sheds new light on Pope Pius XI’s valiant effort to condemn Nazism and the policies of the Third Reich—a crusade that might have changed the course of World War II.

A shocking tale of intrigue and suspense, illustrated with sixteen pages of archival photos, The Pope’s Last Crusade: How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI's Campaign to Stop Hitler illuminates this religious leader’s daring yet little-known campaign, a spiritual and political battle that would be derailed by Pius’s XIs death just a few months later. Peter Eisner reveals how Pius XI intended to unequivocally reject Nazism in one of the most unprecedented and progressive pronouncements ever issued by the Vatican, and how a group of conservative churchmen plotted to prevent it.

For years, only parts of this story have been known. Eisner offers a new interpretation of this historic event and the powerful figures at its center in an essential work that provides thoughtful insight and raises controversial questions impacting our own time.

Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    323 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    William Morrow
  5. Publication date
    March 19, 2013
  6. File size
    4032 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Hard Rock apparel
Outerwear, tees, and accessories. Discover the rock shop.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Justified or not, the Vatican has recently been subjected to numerous attacks for its relationship with the Nazis and its role in the Holocaust. The criticism centers on the activities (or inactivity) of Pope Pius XII. But his predecessor, Pius XI, was cut from different cloth. Before and after his ascension to the Papacy, Pius XI had been an ardent spokesman for “social justice” and opposition to various forms of racism. As pope, he well understood the dangers posed by fascism and the Nazis and didn’t hesitate to criticize Western democracies for their passivity. Before his untimely death, in 1939, Pius was influenced strongly by an American prelate, John La Farge, who had campaigned against racial injustice in the U.S. Eisner, a historian and journalist, suggests that the survival of Pius XI beyond 1939 could have put a much different focus on Catholic-Jewish relations and perhaps ameliorated some aspects of the Holocaust. That is certainly debatable, but this is an interesting work that usefully poses a what-if question while attempting to provide a more balanced view of Vatican policies in the 1930s. --Jay Freeman

Review

“Engrossing. ... Lively.” — Library Journal

“An exciting reminder of how Vatican machinations continue to haunt history.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Gripping. ... Finally, the story of a lost opportunity that could have affected the course of history can now be told.” — Voice of Reason

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0089LOEXQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow; Reprint edition (March 19, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 19, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4032 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 323 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 148 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Peter Eisner

Peter Eisner

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

I've written in recent years about World War II and unsung heroes of the war who deserve more recognition for their valor, for their patriotism and basic decency. I was inspired by personal history -- my dad was a U.S. Navy officer during the War and never talked much about it. These books are in part a quest to understand what the war was like for the young men and women who faced danger and an uncertain future.

FREEDOM LINE: An American bomber pilot is shot down over occupied Europe in 1943 and evades capture with the help of a group of young women and men, out to resist the Nazis;

THE POPE'S LAST CRUSADE: an American Jesuit journalist answers Pope Pius XI's call in a last-ditch effort to challenge Hitler, Mussolini and antisemitism;

MACARTHUR'S SPIES: An American singer caught in the Philippines at the start of World War II spies on Japanese officers from her sultry Manila night club.

My most recent book, written with Michael D'Antonio, is a departure, back to my journalist roots. Why: I'm still in search of patriotism and basic decency. We live in dangerous times.

Have a look: The Shadow President, The Truth About Mike Pence. Available from Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martins.

A Kirkus starred review:

"Award-winning, veteran journalists collaborate on a well-researched and moderately toned yet searing biography of Vice President Mike Pence (b. 1959) ... Producing a biography of a living, controversial politician is always difficult. D’Antonio and Eisner have succeeded in this well-documented, damning book. Cue the outrage from Sean Hannity et al."

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
148 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

James Sayler
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent History and True Mystery
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2013
Verified Purchase
Eisner book review:
The toughest part of understanding what goes on in the world is to see behind appearances. The recent history of the Roman Catholic Church as told by Peter Eisner's The Pope's Last Crusade does an excellent job in contributing to that understanding. Eisener does so by showing how a Pope, 80 years ago, opposed in public and with remarkable vigor the conquest of Europe during the 1930s by German and Italian Nazis. In so doing, Eisener shows the reader the limits of the received history of the Church as a crypto-ally of Nazis and an enduring refuge for anti-Semitism. Eisner's account tells his story of appearances and reality through extensive research in primary sources.

More than that, he tells a great story. He describes how Pope Pius XIth, near the end of his life, having publicly condemned with international effect the Nazi persecution of Jews and other minorities in the 1930s, turns to John LaFarge to draft an encyclical. The purpose? To condemn as a matter of church doctrine the racism and brutality of Nazis and their goals--this in 1939, as Nazi Germany was engaged in the holocaust and about to start World War II. LaFarge had gained fame as a writer for the American Jesuit magazine America, and for promoting the political and cultural equality of blacks in the United States when it was segregated and when such white supremacy was a widely-held view. Eisner's story becomes all the more engrossing when it describes the race to finish the encyclical. It is a race in which LaFarge struggles to finish his draft and submit it to the Pope, against the wishes and tactics of delay of LaFarge's superior, before the Pope dies.

The fair-minded qualities of Eisner's narrative becomes apparent when it reviews the career of Pope Pius XIIth before and after he succeeded his predecessor. Those qualities let the reader consider, independent of historical bias, the details of the perils the Church experienced then, as well as the sub-rosa, anti-semitism for which the Church gained fame and condemnation without and within.

--James Sayler
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
MABryant
5.0 out of 5 stars The encyclical that never was
Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2017
Verified Purchase
This is a fascinating history of the papacy of Pope Pius XI and his opposition to Fascism and Nazism. He charged Father John LaFarge to draft the encyclical that might have seriously curtailed the persecution of the Jews during WWII. Due the machinations of the Vatican hierarchy it was never published as he died before he could press the issue of publication. Until I read this book as a Catholic I knew very little about Pius XI as he was overshadowed by Pius XII, John XXIII and John Paul II. Turns out he may have been more courageous than all of his successors combined.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
RICHARD LAGER
4.0 out of 5 stars the pope's last crusade
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2013
Verified Purchase
Whether by intent or otherwise, author Peter Eisner skillfully leads readers of the Second World War era to familiar,unforgettably wrenching places. His remarkable book is solidly crafted, although some textual curiosities do appear occcasionally. Pope Adrian, the Britisher?

Thanks to this historical narrative, long standing questions continue to haunt me. Is the Roman Catholic Church the only "true" religion in its witness of the divine on earth? To what extent should one subordinate and entrust his or her moral compass to the expectations of institutional authority? Can absolute evil, despite the good intentions of those who oppose it, drive human destiny unalterably to the abyss?

We read of a middle aged Jesuit priest, Fr. John LaFarge, SJ who, from the moment of his youthful ordination decades earlier, has faithfully professed a vow of obedience to both his Order's superior in the Vatican establishment, and ultimately to the Pope himself. Summoned by the latter without the knowledge of the former, he is commissioned by Pope Pius XI to craft a papal encyclical which would categorically denounce racism as evil nonsence. Moreover, the proposed encyclical was especially intended to condemn anti semitism, driven incrementally as it was, towards the lethal horors of Hitlerian Nazi Germany.

Alarmed by the issuance of such a likely inflammatory encyclical as they saw it, Cardinal Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, and Fr. Wlodimir Ledochowski, superior general of the Jesuit Order housed in the Vatican, contrived to block the encyclical from ever seeing the light of day. They were convinced that an increasingly unavoidable Second World War was about to consume Europe. In that event, the very existence of the Roman Catholic Church, including the Vatican itself, could, in their view, be mauled to ruins by a crazed Hitler bent on revenge.

Hving crafted a final draft of the encyclical, LeFarge found himmself hemed in between his responsibility to conscience, and his solemn vow of obedience two opposing forces in the institutional church. Moreover, serious family issues and personal health concers, urged him to return to the United States while he could do so before war broke out. Having embarked on a transatlantic crossing, he chose to entrust the final drafts of the encyclical to "trustworthy" prelates at the Vatican. There the document came to languish aimlessly, deliberately side tracked by Vatican insiders, including Fr. Ledochowski and Cardinal Pacelli. All the while, the gravely ailing Pope Pius XI, aware that his days were numbered, held on for several months. The pontif was expectant, as Lefarge had promised, that he would personally deliver the encyclical draft to the dying Pope before the pontiff's time ran out.

Some historians claim that the fate of thousands, perhaps millions of people, turned on the Vatican to sound the alarm as gales of profound wickedness had begun howling about through most of Europe. Clearly, by 1938 European politics drifted alarmingly towards an unimaginale mightware. The ideology of Nazi Germany was raging hatefully everywhere without challenge. A seemingly overwhelming surge of some horrific destiny had taken charge, driving human affairs to the vry brink of madness. One might wonder: if it were the only true witnes of God on Earth, as claimed by the Roman Catholic Church, why did its leadership seem to priortize its worldly assets far above its spiritual mission? Some might ask whether Father LeFarge should have yielded more responsively to the inner call of his conscience. But one might also ask whether compliance to the demands of vows taken legitimately before a higher authority is of equivalent moral gravity.

Surely, Father LeFarge's search for Truth lead to both bleak dungeons and luminous cathedrals. Was he struggling in a world where Hope, Faith, and Spirituality were impotent before a blind destiny, as was the case of World War II? Or might the force of justice, good will, and aspiration enable humanity to prevail, even in the most evil of times?

The Pope's Last Crusade contributes to that debate.

Richard Lager
Colrain, MA
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Apollonius
3.0 out of 5 stars Eh
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2023
Verified Purchase
It's hard for me to rate this, having gone back to it a few times I think the author refutes his own thesis at the end when he says that said encyclical would have been highly edited by Pius XII and he neglects to mention the fact that popes rarely work solo on their own encyclicals, in this case, Pius XII would have certainly been asked to make changes to it where necessary. Eisner also doesn't mention Summi Pontificatus which incorporated almost the same content, condemning nationalism etc. As expected, this is more "journalistic than scholarly" and it makes Lafarge the hero of the book rather than the pope himself. Pius XI is only barely connected to the story and so it's really Lafarge's encyclical from what we're presented. There are two older books about the same topic but I haven't read those. All in all this isn't a strong case against Pius XII regardless of where one stands on him. I wouldn't recommend citing this book for a serious paper on the papacy and the holocaust but it would be okay for a college or grad paper. Get it used.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Mr. Denis Hayes
5.0 out of 5 stars Review
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 29, 2016
Verified Purchase
Thus is a first class well written book which was very informative. A lot has been written on this subject but mostly on the actions and thinking of pope Pius the X11. It was good to get an insight into Pope Pius X1 s action and feelings on them troublesome years. I recommended this book to readers.
One person found this helpful
 Report
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 17, 2015
Verified Purchase
Excellent read thoroughly recommended
One person found this helpful
 Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report