David I. Kertzer's Blog, page 5

Oxford University Press edition of The Pope Who Would be King, for the UK, to come out this June.

The Oxford University Press cover for The Pope Who Would Be King.

Publishers Weekly offers glowing, starred review of Kertzer's forthcoming book, The Pope Who Would Be King

Publishers Weekly reviews The Pope Who Would Be King: "Kertzer, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Pope Pius XI (The Pope and Mussolini), expertly captures the tension of a deeply devout population, loyal to their church but receptive to the stirrings of both liberalism and nationalism. When Giovanni Mastai Meretti was unexpectedly elected pope in 1846, throngs of adoring Romans heralded his rise, convinced that the humble and fair-minded archbishop of Spoleto would loosen the screws of theocracy in the Papal States and usher in a golden era for Italy. The first months of Pius IX’s rule seemed to bear out this vision, but before long political upheaval forced him to flee—and after his return, chastened and mistrustful of democracy, “[t]he pope’s embrace of a medieval vision of society could not have been clearer.” At the end of his papacy, Pius IX presided over “the death throes of the popes’ thousand-year kingdom... the death of a doctrine of faith that had a huge impact on the course of Western civilization.” From the arch-conservative secretary of state of the Papal States, Giacomo Antonelli (who oversaw daily affairs), to the avatar of Italian independence, Giuseppe Mazzini (a leading dissident fighting against clerical rule and for a united Italy), Kertzer brings to life a cast of characters whose divergent voices arose from a new Europe. A consummate storyteller, Kertzer blends academic rigor with fluid, energetic prose, and the result will satisfy specialists while entertaining those who might otherwise expect to be bored stiff by a volume of church history. (Apr.)"    

Find the review on the Publishers Weekly website.

Kertzer's The Pope Who Would Be King named one of Publisher's Weekly most anticipated books of spring 2018:

To read more, click here.

American Academy in Rome honors Tony Kushner

At its annual New York gala, on November 8, 2017, the American Academy in Rome honored playwright Tony Kushner for his achievements in the arts. David Kertzer, an American Academy trustee, introduced Kushner and presented him with the Academy's Centennial Medal.

 

The Pope Who Would be King to be published in 2018

October 13, 2017: Random House releases bound galleys of David Kertzer's forthcoming book, The Pope Who Would be King, on Pius IX and the Roman Revolution of 1848, to be published in April 2018.

Image credit: Random House

New Spanish edition of The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara published by Berenice Editorial

In May 2017, Berenice publishing house published a second Spanish edition of The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. Valenti Faine gives historical background on the book in essay and video form on his culture blog, La Veu de la Ciutat. To read his review, click here (in Spanish). 

Image credit: Berenice Editorial

La Voce di New York, New York's Italian language newspaper, features story on the panel Kertzer took part in at the University of Trent in June, devoted to his book, The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, and to the planned film based on the book.

Read the story, from June 30, here. 

 

Image credit: La Voce di New York

KOMO News Radio Seattle interviews David Kertzer

The audio recording of the interview, which took place on May 11th on KOMO ABC News Radio, can be found below.