The heart-pounding history of how Pope Pius XII -- often labeled Hitler's Pope -- was in fact an anti-Nazi spymaster, plotting against the Third Reich during World War II.

The Vatican's silence in the face of Nazi atrocities remains one of the great controversies of our time. History has accused wartime pontiff Pius the Twelfth of complicity in the Holocaust and dubbed him Hitler's Pope. But a key part of the story has remained untold.

Pope Pius in fact ran the world's largest church, smallest state, and oldest spy service. Saintly but secretive, he sent birthday cards to Hitler -- while secretly plotting to kill him. He skimmed from church charities to pay covert couriers, and surreptitiously tape-recorded his meetings with top Nazis. Under his leadership the Vatican spy ring actively plotted against the Third Reich.

Told with heart-pounding suspense and drawing on secret transcripts and unsealed files by an acclaimed author, Church of Spies throws open the Vatican's doors to reveal some of the most astonishing events in the history of the papacy. Riebling reveals here how the world's greatest moral institution met the greatest moral crisis in history.

Item # 6384829

Publisher: Basic Books

ISBN: 9780465094110

Binding: Paperback

Author: Riebling, Mark

Audience Type: Adults

Published On: 11-08-2016

Pages: 392

Weight: 0.85 pounds

Dimensions: 8.20 x 5.40 x 1.10 inches