THE VATICAN CONSPIRACY: Intrigue in St. Peter's Square tells the untold story of the secret Vatican-US connection from World War II to the 1980s under President Reagan. You will learn a little-known story of an American military officer who was killed (some say by his own men) in Italy during the war, culminating in a congressional investigation when the war ended. You will learn of James Angleton's work as an American spy in Italy during the war and his relationship with the Church, and how the OSS infiltrated agents into the Vatican to aid the efforts to oust Hitler. Kross then goes extensively into the so-called Rat Line which allowed Nazi leaders like Josef Mengele, Klaus Barbie and Adolf Eichmann to escape to South America with the help of the US. The book covers Operation Paperclip and Operation Safehaven in which Switzerland laundered money form Germany in order to pay that nation's cost of the war. The final chapters delve into the most recent intrigues in the Vatican, including the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in Rome and who might have been behind it (the Soviet Union or Bulgaria), and the mysterious death of Pope John Paul I in Rome, who died after serving only 33 days in office. Also covered is the Vatican Bank scandal involving Roberto Calvi and an American Bishop named Paul Marcinkus. The final chapter involves the murders of two Swiss Guardsmen by one of their own men. This is a tale that most readers of history do not know, but one that must be told. History is never what it seems to be, not cut and dried, not exactly what we were led to believe. Now shipping!

THE VATICAN CONSPIRACY: Intrigue in St. Peter's Square By Peter Kross. 402 pages. 6x9 Paperback. Illustrated. Bibliography.