Decentralization, Absolutism, and the Papal States
by David Kertzer
Historian David Kertzer made a name for himself with his 1997 book
The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. The book covers the until then rarely mentioned case of an Italian Jewish boy who was illicitly baptized by the housekeeper, and then kidnapped in 1858 by Papal State authorities on the grounds that Jews in the Papal States could not be permitted to raise a Christian child.
Because so few books or in-depth articles have been written on the topic in English, Kertzer now enjoys a position as perhaps the preeminent expert on the case. This is no small thing since a number of filmmakers including Steven Spielberg have expressed interest in dramatizing the Mortara case on film. The film project explicitly based on Kertzer’s book was still moving forward as of February of this year.1
The Best Catholics in the World: The Irish, the Church and the End of a Special Relationship
by Derek Scally, 2021, 335 pages
Derek Scally has been the Berlin correspondent of The Irish Times for the last 20 years. Somewhat surprisingly, his first book is not about his experiences in Germany, but about the recent dramatic changes at home.
The Best Catholics in the World: The Irish, the Church and the End of a Special Relationship examines the fallout from the abuse scandals, but also the history of the Church in Ireland: how it rose to a position of such great power and how the public’s apparent devotion has declined so precipitously.