Alemany Alum and Academic Historian - Charles Coulombe ('78) - Publishes New Book

http://us.macmillan.com/thepopeslegion

Newsday, "Booked for Success," 22 July 2008

HISTORY: The Pope's Legion – Religion, history, and suspense had Palgrave Macmillan snapping up this tome from academic historian Charles Coulombe.

Kirkus

Passionately argued rehabilitation of Pius IX's international regiment of Zouaves, by Catholic journalist Coulombe (Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes, 2003, etc.).

In 1860, the Papal States were isolated and beleaguered by the growing movement for Italian unification, led from Sardinia by King Victor Emmanuel II's prime minister, Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, and his frequent tool and occasional opponent, Giuseppe Garibaldi. Resolving to resist being ousted (again) from Rome, Pope Pius IX sent out a call across the Catholic world for volunteers to become "Swords around the Cross." The reaction was swift.

General Lamorici're, a devout Catholic who had gained glory for France in the conquest of Algeria 30 years before, organized and commanded the Zouaves, named after one of North Africa's fierce-fighting Berber tribes. The papal forces comprised members of the French and Roman nobility, Belgian, Irish, Swiss and even American volunteers. (Some "irreconcilable Confederates" arrived after the Civil War, finding comfort in another gallant lost cause.) Vastly outnumbered by the Sardinians, many of whom were seasoned veterans of the recent Crimean and Franco-Austrian wars, the spirited Papal Zouaves nonetheless gave valiant resistance over the next ten years, at Castelfidardo in 1860 and against Garibaldi's onslaught on Rome in 1867. Coulombe does an expedient job of wading through the military details necessary to fully depict this tangled resolution of the "Roman question." He portrays the crusading Zouaves as indomitable spirits, noting that they went on to fight in France and Spain, even to evangelize in the interior of Africa. Their kind of militancy has fallen into disfavor in recent years, but Coulombe does his best to revive the brand for a new generation.

An unabashedly admiring tribute to men of fighting faith.

Publishers Weekly
With a makeup and passion reminiscent of the forces that fought the armies of Mordor in Tolkien's Return of the King, the Pontifical Zouaves occupy a little-known chapter in Catholic Church history. Coulombe (Vicars of Christ) tells their story in detail, claiming this is the first time it has been related in such depth in English. The Zouaves, who took their name and style of dress from Algerian tribesmen, came from four continents and at least 17 countries to fight a 10-year war that began with the Sardinian seizure of Romagna in 1860 and Pope Pius IX's decision to resist the emerging Italian nationalist movement. Although the Zouaves' quest ultimately failed, their history is replete with many heroic moments, and their deep spirituality later influenced Catholics in other military units. Coulombe acknowledges that few today treasure the Zouaves' memory because of a general disdain for Catholic militancy, but he is heartened by a recent revival of interest in their story. Military aficionados will enjoy this as much as readers attracted by the Zouaves' connection to Catholic history.

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Roy-Charles A. Coulombe, '78