This book is worth listening to despite the authors occasional personal philosophizing, which is always off. For the most part, the authors simply presents historical facts in a compelling narrative. The book reads like a novel, but is also clearly the product of series original research. The title is misleading. The book covers the whole papacy of Pius VII and the whole rule of Napoleon through his death on St. Helena. The actual kidnapping is only a small part of the book. The book also covers briefly the papacy of Pius VI and the French revolution. That the title was misleading is a mark in favor of this book, for me.
The author’s personal interpretation of events is naive and betrays his ignorance of theology and political philosophy. He is a liberal and constantly insists that it was “unfair” for 19th century Catholics and historians to portray Napoleon as anti-Catholic or a foreshadowing of anti-Christ since, after all, Napoleon didn’t want to get rid of the Church and though religion was good! Napoleon merely wanted to subordinate religion to the state and make it useful by closing down monasteries and contemplative life! The pope meanwhile was reactionary and couldn’t recognize the need to modernize.
Here, I’ve paraphrased the content of basically all of the places where the author gives his own interpretation of events. Luckily such interpretations are rare enough that they don’t make the book unbearable. The author fails to realize that subordinating the Church to the state, making the Church “useful” by destroying contemplative life, and treating all religions as equal IS anti-Catholic even if these things are done in the name of “saving the Catholic Church” or “reforming” it or whatever else. Moreover, although the author’s history is itself a powerful demonstration of why the Church has, for over a millennia, insisted on the need for the pope to have temporal sovereignty to avoid being controlled in spiritual matters by secular rulers, the author himself doesn’t notice what his own book demonstrates. The author continually acts as if the popes insistence on temporal sovereignty was a personal hangup or reactionary sentiment.
One revealing story from the book is Napoleon’s instructions to those who were sent to convince the pope to concede to Napoleon. Napoleon is supposedly the representative of “reason” and “enlightenment” as opposed to the “dark ages,” but he instructed the negotiators to not try to use reason with Pius VII since he’d only answer their arguments. Instead, he instructed them to apply psychological torture, misinformation, and appeal to emotional blackmail.
Despite the shortcomings, this book is well-worth the read. The picture that emerges is that of a truly saintly pope who withstood a form of martyrdom far more challenging than being thrown to the lions, and who may even, in the very end, have saved his own persecutor’s soul through prayer and forgiveness.