"In [a] quest for Pacelli, clues begin to accumulate, even in his early life: a devout, pious family, highly professional and respected, yet relatively impoverished; strong and abiding Church links; a desire to restore a dispossessed Vatican to its rightful place in the world; continuing insider influence on the young Eugenio's behalf;[-] a strong dependence on a mother figure; [-] and finally, the use of the Pacelli's special interest in canon law to solve the Vatican's problems of dispossession by creating a new and all-encompassing Church order. [-] He emerges as an intellectually brilliant but psychologically fragile vessel, confronting ruthlessly powerful men, devoid of any scruple whatsoever, at the darkest hour in history."