Hide & Seek: The Irish Priest In The Vatican Who Defied The Nazi Command Hardcover – May 1, 2012

Very interesting reading. I have loved WWII history for many years and had never heard this story. Excellent read. I loved it

This is a very interesting book about how, an Irish priest stationed at the Vatican, tried to help the allies that were moving north behind enemy lines. Allies that had either escaped POW camps or bomber crews or figter pilots that perhaps had been shot down. The resourcefulness of the priest was amazing. The other message that comes thru is twofold, the fact that the SS were ruthless in their 9 month occupation of Rome and second, the fact that the Romans who survived the war neither forgave nor forgot how badly they had been mistreated during the occupation. The other thing that comes thru is the overwhelming fear that the Holy Father had that his neutral Vatican would become just another war prize and was therefore not supportive of the freedom trail that the Irish priest had developed for escaping allies.If the books lacks anything, it will wander from year to year. So one year we are in 1939, next we are in 1945 and it bounces back to 1944. A true chronological order would have been great. Lastly, the book is quite long so don't buy this book if you don't have the time to pore through alot of detail.

A fantastic Page-turner! Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty and a Nazi Colonel; SS Chief Herbert Kappler, play” a hide and seek life altering “game” of good v evil. Two very exceptional and determined men seeking different outcomes during WWII Italy.

- Added new perspectives to the 4 other books I know of on the same subject. My great-Uncle was deeply involved so I have researched the events as widely as possible and this book added to my knowledge.The one negative was that it was delivered into my letterbox during a rainstorm, and the packaging was far from weatherproof so the book got very wet. After drying thoroughly so I could read it, It's no longer suitable for sitting on my shelf on display but that wasn't what I bought it for anyway. The content is still accessible and that's what mattered.

Amazing true story about a man who always remembered Jesus teachings of love and kindness even to enemies. A brave priest who kept his principles and did what was right even without the support of his superiors.

Another person in our facility had asked me to order a book about this event in history. She stated that she had read "The Scarlet and the Black" once before, and wanted to read it again. However, the copy I had ordered for our library was out. So, I looked at the other choices offered by Amazon and found this book. She has read it, and stated that she has learned so much more about the setting, the people, and the events that occurred. She said that this book puts what happened into a more complete context with wider focus and understanding for her. She also said she really wants to read it again because there was so much information. This one looks like a real plus for people who like history.

The book was very informative. However, as a Catholic, I did not appreciate some of the comments about Pope Pius XII. All of the derogatory info that has been written about the Pope has been proven wrong. I do understand why this author decided to add the comments that he did due to where he was educated. I think most of the comments about the Pope were not needed & did not add anything to the book.

Having read the other version of this story, "The Vatican Pimpernel" I was also keen to read this, having seen the movie, "The Scarlet and the Black."This book was much better at telling the story, and was able to tell the end of the story for both O'Flaherty and Kappler. If I was going to recommend reading one it would be this one. A truly amazing story and a really well written account.