The Pope's Legion: The Multinational Fighting Force That Defended the Vatican

by Charles A. Coulombe

Book Overview

Charles A. Coulombe's The Pope's Legion tells the amazing adventures of the remarkable multinational force that rallied in defense of the Vatican during the ten-year war of Italian reunification.

With Arthurian grandeur the Papal Zouaves marched into Italy in the mid-nineteenth century, summoned by the Pope under siege as the Wars of the Risorgimento raged. Motivated by wanderlust, a sense of duty and the call of faith, some...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0230617565
• ISBN13: 9780230617568
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

History at It's Best

The Pope's Legion is exactly what a book of popular military history should be: accurate, well written, concise, and entertaining. It begs comparaison to Douglas Porch's History of the French Foreign Legion, which is high praise indeed. Coulombe's work is excellent all around: a story of rogues and saints, fighting in a cause they believed was well worth dying for. Particularly moving are the direct quotations from letters of the Zouaves who expressed their zeal and ardor in such a heartfelt and thrilling manner. I have purchased several additional copies of this book to give to teenagers I know as it is an exciting work showing that there were--and still are--causes bigger than oneself. For those of us romantics who lift a glass on April 16 to toast the memory of those who died at Culloden, or heartily believe in the fourfold motto of Carlism, this is a seminal text. And to those who simply want a great story, finely told: this is a wonderful book for you, as well.

Soldiers of a lost age on the steps of the modern world, the story of the last Crusaders intrigues a

"The Pope's Legion" is a truly fascinating account, and one of the few in English, of the international corps of the Pontifical Zouaves. In the 1860s thousands of men of diverse classes and origins left their homes and embarked on a hopeless, romantic adventure to defend the doomed temporal possessions of the Pope against the Italian nationalists of the Risorgimento. Peasant farmers and expatriate soldiers from every corner of the globe marched alongside princes and sons of the great noble houses of Europe, bound togather by the chivalrous spirit of a bygone age and a filial devotion to their spiritual father, the highly controversial yet unquestionably strong character of Pope Pius IX. Charles Coulombe skillfully moves between detailed descriptions of the victories and defeats of the Zouaves and accounts of the events in the world at large which shaped the battle for the Papal States. Throughout are inspiring portraits of the men who filled the ranks of the papal army- Christophe Louis Juchault de Lamoricère, Athanse Charles Marie Charette, Henri de Cathelineau, Eugene Allet, just to name a few- names seldom recalled today, but belonging to soldiers of immense heroism and worthy to be called the last of the crusaders. Included are photographs, the songs of the zouaves, and a list of monuments, museums and sites in their honor. In reading "The Pope's Legion" one is brought face to face with not only another time, but in many ways another world, so different from our own, where there exists passion and zeal, and causes worth fighting and dying for. Here is a history which possesses all the romanticism and passion and controversy of the Crusades, yet from the threshold of our own time. A story of villains and heroes, the heights and depths of man, and the struggle between an old world and the new. This book sheds light on the long-overlooked faces of men who, by their spirit and style, might have been fashioned on the tongues of the mediaeval chansonniers or sprung from the pages and mind of Tolkien, but who lived and breathed and fought not so long ago. From the author of "Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes", comes a book which guaranteed to fascinate military aficiados, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, and anyone interested in history, religion and the struggle between the old order and modern thought. Vive Lamoricère! Répétons tous en choeur Son noble cri de guerre: Pedre la vie, saver l'honneur. En avant! Marchons, Zouaves du Pape, à l'avant garde En avant! Marchons, Le Pape nous regarde En avant bataillon!

a unique book

a very interesting and documented story, important for all Catholic people in the U.S. and in the involved European countries

I am biased...

...because I wrote it! But it was a thrill to write an account of these men whose bravery and daring have been almost forgotten. It is the first book-length account in English since 1900!