Spies In The Vatican Cl

From the persecution of local priests to an assassination order against Pope John Paul II, signed by Gorbachev himself, lifetime journalist and advisor to President Reagan John Koehler has put together a startling history of the Soviet Union's espionage and violence against the Catholic Church. With never before seen documents and transcripts, including the order against the Pope signed by Gorbachev and nine other Politbureau members, Koehler shows how large a threat the Soviets perceived the Catholic Church to be to stability in Eastern Europe. However paranoid, there was some truth to their suspicions, as the Pope's visit to heavily Catholic Poland in the 1980's triggered the beginning of the Solidarity movement in the Eastern Bloc countries.

John Koehler is the author of Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police. He has worked as a journalist for nearly forty years with the Associated Press and is a former U.S. Army Intelligence Officer, specializing in counter-espionage and intelligence collection. An adviser to President Reagan from 1985-1989, John is retired and lives in Stamford, Connecticut.