{"product_id":"vatican-spies","title":"Vatican Spies","description":"Condition: BRAND NEW\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781911723400\u003cbr\u003eYear: 2025\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Hurst Publishers\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDescription:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Officially' the Vatican has no espionage service; but does no one carry out intelligence operations on its behalf? During the Second World War and Cold War, Rome was teeming with spies. A band of undercover monsignors and priests hunted for Vatican 'moles', led clandestine diplomacy, investigated assassinations of priests and other scandals threatening the Church, and conducted high-risk missions behind the Iron Curtain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on freshly released archives of foreign services that worked with or against the Holy See,\u003ci\u003eVatican Spies\u003c\/i\u003ereveals eighty years of shadow wars and dirty tricks. These include infiltrating Russian-speaking priests into the Soviet Union; secret negotiations between John XXIII and Khrushchev; the future Paul VI's close relationship with the CIA; the Vatican's infiltration by Eastern Bloc intelligence; the battles between the Jesuits and Opus Dei; and the secret bank funds channelled first to fight communism in South America, then to support Solidarity in Poland.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis entertaining book journeys right to the present, uncovering startling machinations under Benedict XVI and, today, Pope Francis.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'An intriguing book...an informative resource on the modern papacy. It will certainly satisfy all those who, after watching \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eConclave\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e, want to learn more about intrigue in the Holy See.' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A no-holds-barred account of the Vatican's covert operations...is revelatory...The Vatican is so secretive that the book becomes a modern history of the Holy See. There is much blood on the carpet.' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eVa\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ALLIANCE DIST - SF","offers":[{"title":"Default","offer_id":41530665140357,"sku":"PR395444","price":66.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0562\/0213\/3637\/files\/image_TNWY9UQNGOAN.jpg?v=1772155661","url":"https:\/\/smartfoxbooks.com.au\/products\/vatican-spies","provider":"Smartfox Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}